Through the Eyes of the Enemy
by LiquidSky
Summary: Three thousand years after being defeated a demon is summoned once again to wreak havoc in the world; in its path it threatens to destroy Seifer's new-found happiness.
1. Welcome Missions and Daring Escapes

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Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 or its characters, all the characters that were not in the game are my creation.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(Welcome Missions and Daring Escapes)

He wished he could be anywhere but where he was. Even the deepest pits of Hell seemed more appealing than this...torture; there was no other word to describe what he was feeling. He glanced at the clock on the wall across from him, it had only been fifteen minutes, but it had seemed so much longer. He didn't know how much more he could take, all his years of intense training had not prepared him for this. 

The creature looked into his blue-green eyes as it continued to speak. It did not seem to notice the pain he was feeling. "...So I told her, 'Cris', actually her name is Cristal, but since we call her Cris it confuses a lot of people and they think her name's Cristina. So anyway, I told her, 'Cris, don't buy that dress, I have a bad feeling about it'. I really did have a bad feeling about it too. And when I have a bad feeling it's usually right. I mean, I do not kid around with fashion. People take the subject so lightly, but it's really not, I mean, it could mean the difference between...I don't know, something good or something bad." She stopped, when she saw the look in his eyes. "Seifer? Are you listening?" 

He sat across from her, his elbows were propped on the table, he was using his hands to hold up his head it seemed. "...I..."

"Well anyway, I had a bad feeling about the dress." She didn't really seem to care if he was listening. "I didn't think the color really matched her skin tone, blah, blah, blah..."

She would not shut up. Seifer took his fork in his hand, if he stabbed himself in the eye with it, he thought, he would have to go the emergency room, and he would finally be free of the creature's wrath. It was risky he knew, but did he really need two eyes? Fujin seemed to be fine with just one; he would need to buy an eye patch, where did Fujin get hers? His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone: a gift from Hyne. He quickly answered. "Almasy here!" He said a little too enthusiastic. "Yes Headmaster." He paused. "Thank you Sir. I'm on my way." He quickly stood up. "Sorry Karen, I have to go. I have a mission."

"It's Kayla, not Karen." The brown-eyed woman sighed and shook her head. "Seifer, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I don't really want to go out with you again. You're too boring." She said flipping her blond hair.

"I'm what?" She was calling _him_ boring? "And you are the most moronic woman I have ever gone out with!"

"If you say so. You're just mad because I'm dumping you." She stood up from her chair. "By the way, this restaurant sucks. And that shirt you're wearing is soooo last season." She grabbed her purse, "please don't call me." She said as he walked out of the restaurant.

She was dumping him? They hadn't even gone out on one whole date. Seifer sighed, while not being the worst date he'd gone on it was pretty darn close. How many of these ridiculous rituals would he be able to stand going through? Well the point was he was free at last, he left some gil on the table and rushed out of the restaurant.

***************************

Seifer arrived at Cid's office, he saw two other SeeDs standing in front of the desk; they seemed to be waiting for him.

"Sir." Seifer saluted Cid. He glanced at Squall who was standing by Cid, he was wearing the same frown he always wore whenever he saw Seifer. He knew that Squall would never understand why Cid had admitted him back in Garden and gave him the opportunity to become a SeeD. Seifer didn't care, he hadn't returned to make Squall happy.

"Now that we are all here, will you please brief them on the mission Squall?" Cid asked.

"As you may have seen on the news," Squall began, "there have been a series of kidnappings in the last month or so. The victims are girls ranging in ages from their mid teens to early twenties. They all have the same physical characteristics, dark hair, brown eyes and tan colored skin. One of these girls," Squall handed Seifer a picture, "is the daughter of Trent Marcells."

"The millionaire?" Seifer asked.

"Yes indeed." Cid answered.

Squall continued. "Mr. Marcells has hired SeeD to find his daughter. She was last seen at a bar in Dollet. That is basically all the information that was given to us. Her name is Ruby Marcells, your mission then is to find her and take her back to her father safely." 

"Seifer you are to be the squad leader." Cid handed him three train tickets. "The train leaves in forty-five minutes."

"Yes Sir." Seifer and the two SeeDs saluted him, then proceeded to walk out.

"Do you need to do anything before we go?" Seifer asked once they had left the office.

"All I have to do is tell the guys that I won't make it to the hockey game." Said Caleb, a tall black man of twenty-three years.

"How about you Taze?" Seifer turned to the other SeeD.

"I just have to say good-bye to Quistis." His brown eyes seemed to light up at the mention of her name.

"Fine." Seifer said. "We'll meet at the Parking Lot in fifteen minutes."

"Taze here is gonna need more than fifteen minutes if he's going to say good bye to instructor Trepe." Caleb joked, Taze blushed a little at his comment.

"Fifteen minutes." Seifer said firmly, failing to see the humor.

Seifer wished he had friends or a girl to say good-bye to. All he had to do was pack his toothbrush. He went down the elevator and headed for his dorm. 

******************************

She was back in the examining table again. She hated that room, that entire place. She was wearing only a hospital-style gown, which made the entire room seem colder than it was; that whole building always seemed cold. She slowly and discretely opened her eyes, two men in white lab coats were discussing something, their backs were turned to her.

She scanned the room, no guards inside. They must have been extremely sure that the sedatives had worked, what they didn't know was that she had realized something; they put the sedatives in her food, so for the last two days she had not drank or eaten anything. Almost immediately she had noticed the difference, her head felt clearer and she no longer felt disoriented. 

She had always heard them say that she was the most dangerous out of all the girls, the one that they feared would try to escape. They were right. 

She slowly raised her head and proceeded to sit up. The two men still had their backs turned to her. Her bare feet touched the cold floor, she moved noiselessly toward a small stool by the examining table. She lifted the stool and hit one of the men on the head with it. He fell to the floor unconscious.

Seeing what had just happened the other man tried to make a run for the alarm button on the wall. The girl got to him before he could reach it and elbowed him hard in the face. He still tried for the button again, she slammed him hard on the wall causing him to hit his head; he too fell to the floor unconscious.

On the eastern wall there was a small locker where she had seen them put her clothes. She ran to the locker and opened it, she slipped on her jeans then put on her sneakers and sweatshirt. She slowly made her way to the door and peaked through the small window. A lone guard stood by the door, in his hands he held an assault rifle. Perfect.

She opened the door and poked her head outside. "I think your friends need help." She told the guard. Surprised he turned to her, she pulled him inside and knocked him to the floor. In one swift movement the rifle switched hands. She pointed it at the guard's face, all her years of training at Galbadia Garden had not been in vain.

"Give me your cardkey." She demanded. The guard hesitated. "Give it to me or I will blow your brains out." The look in her eyes told him that she was not joking. He reached into his pocket and handed her the card.

"Go stand over there." She motioned to the far wall with the rifle. The guard did as he was told. She walked out and used the cardkey to lock the door. She knew he would sound the alarm soon.

After almost a month of being captive, she had become very familiar with this hallway. She knew there were two security cameras, one to her right: she pointed the rifle at it and shot it, causing it to shatter, and one to the left; she did the same. Now they had no idea what she was doing. 

Almost instantly she heard the sound of the alarm. She ran to the door on the far end to the right and used the cardkey to lock it. She then turned the door on the left end and did the same. The cell where Ruby and the rest of the girls were was just beyond that door, she was tempted to go and free them, but she knew that would not be possible. She was the only one who could escape from such a place, she needed to get out and get help. She could not save them alone. "I promise I'll get you out Ruby."

She ran to her right and stopped at the ventilation duct, that was her only route of escape. She bent down and pulled on the vent cover, but it was screwed on tight. She used the cardkey to loosen the screws, once she was able to remove the cover she slung the rifle over her shoulder and crawled inside. She noticed an upward incline, which told her she had been in the basement.

She reached the end, quickly turned herself around, then proceeded to kick the cover until it came off. She carefully stepped outside, just as expected she spotted one of the guards, he was about to climb into a car, she guessed all the other guards were still looking for her inside. The guard saw her and pointed his rifle at her, she did the same.

"Put the gun down, babe."

"There's no way in hell I'm gonna do that." She said firmly.

"Put it down or I'll shoot you." The guard threatened.

"I don't think your boss will appreciate that." She said. "I am the one he was looking for, the one he needs. If you shoot me: he will kill you."

The determined look on the guard's eyes changed, but he still didn't lower his rifle.

"On the other hand," she continued, "if I shoot you, the only thing that will happen is that I'll be home free."

"You won't shoot me." He said trying to convince himself.

"I was trained in a military academy for years, where I was taught to shoot the enemy, to kill him with no mercy." She said menacingly. "Do not think for one minute that I will hesitate to shoot you. I will do anything to get you out of my way."

The guard reluctantly lowered the gun.

"Give me the keys to the car." She demanded. "You don't have to tell anyone that you let me go, no one is watching."

He handed her the keys. 

Still pointing the rifle at him she walked backward until she reached the vehicle, then stepped inside and drove off.

The guard watched her leave with a smile on his face, the poor girl didn't know that he had been on his way to fill up the tank, the car was about to run out of fuel.

***************************

"I'd like to see them keep up with me." She said, a triumphant smile on her face. As a member of the Galbadia Garden Racing Club, there weren't many people who rivaled her on the road. Her smile quickly faded when she realized that the fuel tank was on empty. Any second now the car would stop, and then what? There was no way to escape, woods to her left...and a cliff to the right...Yes...That was her only choice. She would drive the car off the cliff and then make them think that she had gone along with it.

She opened the door then steered the car hard to the right, and jumped out immediately after. At the speed that it was going the car had no problem going over the cliff. 

She rolled on the pavement, then painfully crawled to the left where the woods began. She stood up, her jeans were torn at the right knee, blood was starting to soak through that spot. She had scraped the right side of her chin and it hurt to move her right elbow. She heard the sound of cars and quickly moved behind a tree. The vehicles stopped at the other side, where hers had gone over the cliff.

"Damn it! The crazy bitch went over the cliff!" She heard someone yell.

Other voices soon joined, but she wasn't about to stick around to hear what they were going to say. She ran into the woods as fast as her legs could carry her. She tripped and fell, but that didn't stop her, she quickly stood up and kept running until her legs couldn't hold her up anymore and she fell to her knees.

She was breathing rapidly, she just then realized that she had been crying, she felt the tears run down her cheeks. She wept openly, all the fear, the anger and stress of being captive for almost a month had finally caught up with her.

She suddenly stopped crying when she heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. Had they found her already? "No. Please Hyne." She said quietly. 

A torma stepped out of the bushes slowly. She had no weapons, no magic. She was defenseless, all she could do was pray as the torama inched closer and closer.

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	2. The Demon

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FF8 or its characters, all characters that were not in the game belong to me. 

Okay, I'm changing this a little bit. This chapter used to be chapter one, maybe this way it'll be less confusing. Vick330 made a really good suggestion that I decided to carryout. Thanks Vick!

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(The Demon)

Two thousand nine hundred ninety-eight years before the Ultimicia Fiasco:

The troops rode under the hot desert sun. They were tired and wanted nothing more than to go home, to be away from her: their leader.

A luxurious carriage pulled by two chocobos and steered by a soldier rode at the front. Two young women sat inside.

"It sure is hot." The woman on the left commented, she opened the curtain and peeked out the window, her blue eyes squinting at the sight of the bright sun.

"How observant of you." The woman on the right responded dryly. She looked at Oninna, her loyal servant; she was a small girl of barely seventeen years. Though Oninna's upbeat attitude irritated her at times she had to admit that her ability to predict certain parts of the future had proved invaluable. 

Oninna moved a strand of blond hair from her pretty face. _There goes my sad attempt at conversation, she thought. The carriage stopped. "Are we here?"_

"Where else would we be?" Her mistress responded looking out the window. "Are you sure you remember what to do?" She turned to look at her servant.

"Yes." Onnina tapped her fingers on the leather bound book resting on her lap. "I still don't know why we need to do this," She pointed at the book; "and bring you troops, she said she was surrendering."

She rolled her eyes at Oninna; _the girl could be so naive at times. "Because it could be a trap." She stood and made her way out of the carriage. The bright sun did not seem to bother her; she fixed her gaze on the large castle looming before her. She turned to look at her captain, who had come to stand by her. "Battle formations." She ordered. "Although it seems peaceful we must be ready for anything."_

"Yes Great One." The captain bowed to her then started giving orders to his men.

"See Averan," Oninna turned to her mistress, "she said she wanted to surrender peacefully, and it looks like she's keeping her word."

Averan's red lips curved into a wicked smile, of course the sorceress would want to surrender peacefully, she was probably tired of seeing her people die fighting a battle they could not win. Averan was only twenty-two years old, in seven short years she had succeeded in taking over most of the Centra continent. She expected to have the rest of the world in another seven years. But if the sorceress and her troops surrendered peacefully, she would gain control in a much shorter period of time.

She turned and saw the captain looking fearfully at her; he quickly turned away once he realized that she was looking in his direction. She loved knowing that she could make anyone quiver with fear. Averan was an extremely powerful demon, with superhuman strength and magic power far greater than that of any sorceress. It had been easy for her to 'persuade' people to join her cause; all she had to do was threaten them and their loved ones. They knew very well that she would carry out her threats, she always did, as long as they followed her orders, they would be safe, unless of course, they died in battle. 

She had nothing and no one to fear, not even Hyne herself. She was the most powerful, the most intelligent, perhaps even the most beautiful. She had long black hair, brown eyes and tan colored skin. She loved to show off her gorgeous body as much as possible. On this particular day she wore a long blue dress, it had two slits that reached up to her hips. The top was sleeveless with an extremely low-cut neckline that showed almost an excessive amount of cleavage.

"What do we do now?" Oninna asked.

"Wait until they open the gates. I don't want to start a fight, I'm not dressed for it."

Oninna thought she wasn't dressed period. It amazed her how anyone would have the courage to wear the clothes that Averan wore. 

As if on cue the gates opened, a guard stepped out and bowed to Averan. "Sorceress Chytrine has been expecting you."

"Take me to her."

****************************

Chytrine paced back and forth inside the large conference room. She felt very anxious; she had only seen Averan face to face once before, during on of the many battles they had fought. Never in her sixty years had she encountered someone as powerful and fearsome as Averan. Chytrine turned her emerald gaze to the door when she heard it open. A girl in her late teens emerged. "Yes Iome?"

Iome stepped forward and closed the door. "She has arrived. The guard is bringing her here as we speak."

Chytrine looked at the scepter in her hand. "May Hyne guide us."

Iome looked at her mentor, concern apparent in her brown eyes. "What will happen if we do not succeed?"

"Then my child, all will be lost." Chytrine said sadly. "Do you remember the rite?"

"Of course."

"Iome. In case anything should...not turn out as expected, I will need you to receive my powers."

Iome lowered her head. "Yes Chytrine."

"Now hide, she should come in at any moment."

Iome made her way to Western Wall, her brown curls bouncing as she walked. Once there she hid behind a large curtain.

Shortly after, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Chytrine said.

Averan stepped inside closely followed by Oninna. "Why have you called me here Sorceress?" Averan demanded.

"You received my message. Did you not?"

"Yes," Averan smiled wickedly, "but I want to hear it from your lips."

Chytrine looked at her, green eyes full of hate. "I expected as much from you. As you _well_ know, I have called you here because I want to surrender peacefully. I am tired of seeing my people die in vain."

"A wise choice." Averan said.

Chytrine moved toward her. "Take my scepter, as a symbol of my surrender." Averan hesitated. Hyne, please let her take it, Chytrine thought. The scepter had been created by Chytrine and the only two other sorceresses who lived at that time. It would be able to contain Averan's physical and magic power for a few moments, more than enough time to carry out their plan...If she touched the scepter.

Oninna's eyes closed for a moment, she suddenly opened them and said: "I just had a vision of-" At that precise moment Averan took the scepter, realizing only too late what she had done. "Never mind." Oninna finished.

"NOW!" Chytrine yelled.

Iome emerged from her hiding place. "I banish thee creature, to the dark place from where thou came! Join once again thy creator forever and forever, until the end of time!" With that Averan vanished.

Oninna immediately began to rite in a strange language. "Demonico retorne por desendante en tremille anio!" Chytrine and Iome gave her a queer look. Oninna opened the book. "Damn. I don't think that's how it went."

"You want her to come back in three thousand years?" Chytrine wanted to know.

"No. I meant to say thirty years."

"Tredi is thirty, tremille is three thousand."

Oninna looked at the book again. "I see that now."

"What were you trying to do?" Iome asked.

"Well, I can see certain parts of the future. I had a vision about her son."

"She has a son?"

"Yes, he is only four years old now. But what I saw is that in thirty years he will have a fifteen-year-old daughter. I helped Averan find a spell that would enable her to come back by inhabiting her descendant's mind; in case she should die in battle or something. Then using a different spell from this book, she would get her own body back, but now it looks like she won't."

Chytrine could not believe what she was hearing, Averan was truly gone, she would never have to worry about her again.

"Oh well." Oninna said simply, she had never really cared for Averan, she merely stayed with her because she knew that Averan would kill her if she didn't. "I'm glad she's gone or she would have my head for this." She handed Chytrine the book. "Here I have no need for this anymore. Do what you will with it. I'm going to tell the troops that it's okay to go home." With that she walked out, leaving Chytrine and Iome speechless.  

"...Three thousand years." Chytrine finally said.

_"If she has any descendents in three thousand years." Iome laughed._

Chytrine couldn't help but join in the laughter. It was over, finally over. "Here." She handed Iome the book. "Destroy it. We do not want this to fall into the wrong hands. I must go and tell my people the wonderful news. A job well done Iome. I am certain that one day you will make a magnificent sorceress." She smiled at Iome then walked out.

Destroy the book? It seemed like such a shame. No, she wouldn't destroy it she would hide it. Then when she became a sorceress she would pass it down to whoever received her powers. It would go down the line of sorceresses forever, as a reminder of Averan's downfall and their victory. She was confident that nothing would go wrong. What were the chances that Averan would still have descendents in three thousand years?


	3. Alayna

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Disclaimer: FF8 and it characters belong to Squaresoft.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(Alayna)

[Present time]

Pointless...the entire mission seemed pointless, boring as hell too. Why was he even bothering with these stupid missions? Seifer shook his head and looked out of the train window at the setting sun. Stupid question, what else could he do? Nothing that was worthwhile that was for sure...but was anything worthwhile anymore? He didn't know. 

He wished he could go back to simpler times...before the guilt...before the shame. He knew the answer to his earlier question, he knew why he was bothering with stupid missions, he wanted to prove to everyone, to himself that he wasn't a worthless traitor...not anymore. But they didn't care, they didn't see his efforts to be civil, to avoid _them_ as much as possible, to be better than what everyone thought he was. He turned right and fixed his gaze on his two companions, they were chatting happily about nonsense...just like _them_...always happy, even Squall. They didn't care, well, so what, screw them, he didn't need them...he didn't need anyone. The last thought scared him; he was sounding like the old Squall. 

He pondered a moment...he was turning into the old Squall. He hated himself for that...no, he hated Squall for that, actually, he just plain hated Squall. He hated everyone, but he especially hated Squall, he had everything that he had ever wanted to have, had accomplished everything that _he_ had ever wanted to accomplish..._everything_. It wasn't fair...but he knew he deserved it, and if it was Hyne's will, than so be it. There was something else that no one bothered to learn about him, he knew that no one saw him as a religious man, and he wasn't religious, not really; but he did believe. He felt he had to believe in something or else he would go insane...If he wasn't already.

So maybe he was insane, that would be a good explanation for his return to Garden, it wouldn't surprise him and it sure as hell wouldn't surprise anyone else. He turned to the window and once again looked at the setting sun, he then closed his eyes and drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

**************************************************

Darkness had settled in Dollet when Seifer and his party arrived. They headed to the bar where Ruby Marcells was last seen, once there, they proceeded to question the bar tender. They found that he wasn't much help, all he had seen was the girl come in and out of the bar. No one else had seen anything unusual, they soon realized that finding Ruby would be more difficult than they thought.

"So what now?" Taze asked.

"How the hell should I know." Seifer responded.

"You're the leader." Caleb said.

"I ain't no damn investigator." Seifer shook his head, he despised detective work. "Fine. Let's go to where her friends say she disappeared, there might be a clue or something there."

The three SeeDs went out of the bar and into the lamp-lit street. They noticed a figure holding on to a lamppost for support about a block down from them. "I wonder if that person is okay." Taze said.

"It's probably just some drunk." Caleb concluded.

As they got closer they realized that the person wasn't drunk. It was a girl, she didn't look well at all, she took a few steps forward then collapsed on the sidewalk. They all rushed toward her.

She looked like she'd been through hell and back, Seifer thought. There was a scrape on the right side of her chin, her jeans were torn and bloody at the right knee, and the left sleeve of her sweatshirt was torn off revealing three large scratches on her arm. 

"The other girls are still captive," The girl said attempting to sit up, "please, they need help."

Seifer gave the two other SeeDs a puzzled look.

"Well she does match the description." Taze said.

"Do you mean the girls that were kidnapped?" Caleb asked her.

She closed her eyes then nodded.

"Do you know a Ruby Marcells?" Seifer asked.

"Yes." She opened her eyes, a small gasp escaped her throat when she saw Seifer. "They sent you to get me!"

"What?"

"Please don't take me back." She tried to get up, but she felt all her strength leave her, then everything went black.

**********************************

She was back in the examining table, the smell of the place told her as much. But there was something different, the air was warm, and she felt blankets covering her. It all seemed too good to be true, she was afraid to open her eyes, afraid to discover that she was a prisoner once more. But sooner or later, she would have to face reality.

She opened her eyes, she was in a small cream-colored room, there was a phone on small table by her bed and a television set was mounted the wall across from her. She noticed an IV in her right hand, her left arm had been bandaged where the toarma had scratched her. 

She sat up when she heard the door open, a nurse came in and smiled kindly at her.

"How are you feeling dear?"

"Where am I?"

"You're in Dollet General Hospital."

Dollet? She had made it, she really was free! She couldn't help but let a small smile form on her lips.

"You didn't answer my question." The nurse said. "How are you feeling?"

"Compared to how I've been lately, I feel great."

"I'm glad." She said while checking her pulse. "The doctor will come to check on you later. Meanwhile, one of the young men who brought you in wants to speak with you." She noticed the fearful look in her eyes. "Unless, of course, you don't feel comfortable doing that."

"Did they say who they work for?"

"They are SeeDs."

"Did they show you their identification?"

"Of course, dear. You don't think we'd just let anybody come and talk to our patients, do you?"

If they truly were SeeDs maybe she could convince them to help the girls. "...Alright, I'll see him."

"I'll go tell him. I'll come back to check on you in a little while." The nurse said walking out.

About two minutes later there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Seifer stepped inside. "Are you really a SeeD?" Was the first thing she asked him.

"Yes."

"Show me your ID." 

Seifer extracted his wallet from his coat pocket, took out his SeeD Identification Card and showed it to her.

Satisfied that he truly was a SeeD, she said. "You are a changed man." 

Her comment took Seifer by surprise. "...What do you mean?"

"The last time I saw you, was when you took over Galbadia Garden." The look in his eyes told her that she had brought up what seemed to be a _forbidden_ subject. But she couldn't just end it there, she needed to say it in a way that wouldn't upset him, but that reflected exactly what she wanted to say. "...I could tell that you weren't yourself...there was something about the look in your eyes that told me you weren't really like that. When I saw you out in the street, I was afraid of you because I thought that you were still the same. But now that I look at you, I can tell that you have changed."

Seifer didn't know what to say, this was the first time that anyone had said that to him. The first time anyone had said 'I know you've done wrong, but it's all in the past, and I know you've changed'. It amazed him how this girl that he had never seen before could read him so well. "...Who are you?" Was all he managed to say.

"Alayna Orden, I'm a student at Galbadia Garden." She extended her left hand. "I'd offer my right hand, but since there's a big needle in it..." She smiled at him. 

Hers was the sweetest smile he had ever seen, he shook her hand. "I'd introduce myself, but you seem to know me."

"You came to ask me about the girls didn't you?" 

"One girl in particular, Ruby Marcells. Our mission is to take her back to her father."

The nurse came back in the room carrying a tray of food.

"I can take you to where she and the rest of the girls are." Alayna offered.

"I don't think so." The nurse said surprising them. "You are not leaving this hospital tonight." She said firmly. "You can tell him where it is, but I am not letting you out of here in the shape that you're in."

"She's right." Seifer said.

Alayna rolled her eyes. "Fine." The only reason why she agreed was that she knew that in her condition she would only be in the way.

She gave Seifer a detailed description of how to find the place and what it looked like. She also drew a map of the building and told him how to enter using the same way she used to escape. 

"I guess we're ready then." Seifer said.

"Seifer..." Alayna began, "I know that your mission is Ruby, but, would you please help the rest of the girls." She had a look of genuine concern in her eyes. "I would go with you but..."

"Don't worry," Seifer assured her, "I'll make sure they all get home safe."

"Thank you. I would wish you luck, but I know you don't need it. You seem like the type who makes his own luck."

Again her words amazed him. "...I'll let you know how it turns out." He said.

"I'm going to stay here until I hear from you-I mean how it turns out." Alayna corrected herself.

Seifer nodded, then walked out.

"He's really cute." The nurse said.

Alayna lay down on her bed, "He's a lot more than that." 

******************************************************************


	4. The Rescue

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own FF8 or its characters. All the characters that were not in the game belong to me and Squaresoft can't have them (not that they'd want them).

Oh my God! I really want to thank pixie518, Athena, Ashley and zhakeena. Thank you guys so much for reviewing me, you guys really, really made my day. Thank you. And Zhakeena I am the Sasami who reviews your fics, you rock ^_^

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(The Rescue)

Seifer and his team left Dollet well before dawn, after driving for a while they spotted the building that Alayna had described. The building looked harmless enough, it was a large mansion surrounded by trees and open space. The perfect place to hide an incriminating secret, Seifer thought.

They parked the van they had rented far from the mansion so they wouldn't be spotted. They carefully scanned the area and were surprised to see that there were no guards outside. The reason for this they thought was that they had some type of electronic surveillance system.

Using the trees and bushes as cover they reached the mansion. They made their way to the eastern wall, they saw an opening on the lower part of the wall: the ventilation duct. They noticed something odd; from where they were standing the duct looked as if it had been forced open from the inside and been left the uncovered. It seemed as if they weren't afraid that anyone would sneak in or try to escape.

Seifer wished he knew who they were dealing with, Alayna hadn't been able to tell him who her captors had been or what they wanted exactly. The entire situation was truly strange, the reason for the kidnappings was obviously not money. Ruby was the only one worth holding for ransom, yet her father had not received a note or a phone call indicating that they wanted any money.

"What now?" Caleb asked.

"We make a run for the ventilation duct." Seifer said. "Be sure to be Junctioned properly. They might try to surprise us inside." All three of them took a few seconds to check their Junctions. "Are we ready?" Caleb and Taze nodded. "On three we make a run for it. One...two...three."

The three SeeDs ran toward the opening on the wall, to their surprise before they could reach it the lights came on. "Just keep going!" Seifer instructed. When they reached the opening they saw that they were surrounded by armed men. Taze dove into the opening followed by Seifer and Caleb. 

"You know they're gonna be ready for us down there." Caleb said. 

"No doubt." Taze agreed.

"Cast a Protect on yourselves while you can," Seifer said, "and Taze, be ready to hit them with a good GF." They did as they were told. 

They reached the end of the tunnel, Seifer could hear voices in the hall, yes, they were definitely waiting for them. 

Without warning Taze rolled out of the opening, Seifer and Caleb followed right after him. Taze's GF was ready to attack, before any of the guards could react they were hit by Shiva's Diamond Dust attack. 

Seifer scanned the hall, there were about ten men on the floor trying to recover from Shiva's attack. He noticed the two broken surveillance cameras, at least they wouldn't be able to see what they were doing. "This way!" Seifer said running toward the left end of the hall. He took the card key that Alayna gave him out of his pocket and opened the door that he knew would lead them to the girls. Once they were at the other side he used the card key to lock the door. 

"That was easy." Caleb commented.

"Let's hope we have the same luck getting out." Taze said.

The trick, Seifer thought, would be to get all the girls out safely.

*******************************

Somewhere else in the mansion two men stood watching a monitor. The man on the right was heavyset and appeared to be in his late forties, while the one on the left looked at least twenty years younger.

"Well, Mr. Stone." The younger man said. "It would seem that our Miss Orden is alive after all." He sounded pleased.

Stone turned to look at him a scowl on his face. "Lucky for you, Marcus. You are the one responsible for her escape, do not forget that."

"Yes, Sir." Marcus said lowering his gaze; he wondered how he always ended up being _responsible for everything that went wrong. He was tempted to leave his job as Stone's right hand man, but he paid him too well, he knew that jobs like his didn't come along often. "What matters is that she did not die. You can still carryout your plan."_

"Well she's not dead, but where is she?"

"I will find her Sir."

"Yes. You will." Stone said menacingly. "Tell the soldiers to retreat, we have no need to stop those boys from taking the girls. They are actually doing me a favor, I have no need for those girls anymore, it is nice of them to take them off my hands. Tell the soldiers to return to the base."

"Yes Sir." Marcus walked over to the telephone on his boss's   desk, picked up the receiver and pressed the intercom button. "This is the Captain, retreat at once. Meet back at the base." Within seconds they could see through the monitor that the soldiers were leaving the mansion. "Shall we do the same Sir?" Marcus asked.

"_I will leave. __You are going to find out where that little girl is." _

Marcus felt like strangling the little bitch for escaping, how was he supposed to find her? She was probably back in Galbadia Garden, and he couldn't just go waltzing in there. He wasn't going to argue with his boss, but he wasn't going to look for her either. He needed a vacation anyway, he would just stay away from the base for a couple of weeks, relax and then start looking for her. If he never found her that was fine, it was not even in his best interest to have her around. Now, where would be a good place to go? Deling City? No, or maybe...

"Mr. Emerson! Are you listening?" Stone interrupted Marcus's thoughts.

"Yes, sir. I will do as you say, sir."

"I'll expect you to keep me informed of your progress." Stone said walking out of the room.

"Esthar." Marcus said once Stone was gone. "Yeah, that'll be a nice place to visit."

******************************

Seifer and his team were rushing down the hall when they heard the retreat order. The three SeeDs stopped and looked back. 

"Is that a trick?" Taze asked.

"Don't let your guard down." Seifer ordered.

They carefully proceeded to the room where Alayna had indicated that the girls were kept. Caleb and Taze stayed guarding the door while Seifer went inside.

Eight frightened-looking girls matching the description of the kidnapping victims were in the room. They all looked at Seifer as if expecting him to do something horrible. "You don't have to be scared." He reassured them. "We're SeeDs from Balam Garden, we came to get you out." The looks on the girls' faces changed from fear to joy. "Is one of you Ruby Marcells?" Seifer asked.

"I am." A girl of about nineteen years stepped forward.

"Your father sent us." Seifer informed her.

Ruby's eyes seemed to light up. "My father?" Her expression suddenly changed to one of concern. "There was another girl here Alayna, I don't know what became of her..."

"She's fine." Seifer said. "She's the one who told us how to find you guys." Ruby smiled at his answer. "Let's go before they decide they didn't want to retreat after all."

*******************************************

Thanks for reading ^_^


	5. Off to Balam

**Disclaimer:** Squaresoft still won't give me FF8, but they let me keep my characters.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(Off to Balam)

Seifer and his team, along with Ruby and the rest of the girls arrived safely at Dollet that same morning. Each one of the girls went her own way, except for Ruby who was to be escorted home by the SeeDs.

"Hey! Seifer, were ready to go when you are." Caleb said after making sure the van was filled up with fuel.

"...You guys go ahead. Take Ruby to her father and report to the Headmaster." Seifer said.

"What?"

Seifer had not forgotten that he needed to tell Alayna that everything had gone well. "I have to take care of something." Was the explanation he gave.

"What _something?" Taze asked._

"Mind your own damn business! Just do what I said, I'm still the leader." Seifer climbed out of the van. "Tell the Cid I'll give him a full report as soon as I get back. I should be back by this afternoon." He walked off.

"You know what?" Caleb said. "Sometimes he really pisses me off."

Taze went to sit on the driver's seat. "You and everybody else."

*********************************

After renting a car Seifer went to the hospital. On his way to Alayna's room he came across the nurse that had tended to her the night before.

"Good, you're back." The nurse said. "I'm glad I got to see you before I went home. Did everything go well?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad." She smiled at Seifer. "She's in the waiting room waiting to hear from you. Just go straight down this hall, fourth door on the left."

"Thank you." Seifer walked to the waiting room. He looked inside and saw Alayna sitting on a couch looking at the clock on the wall.

She stood up when she saw Seifer. "You're back! How did everything go?" She asked concerned.

"Fine."

"Are the girls safe?"

"They're fine. We got them all to Dollet then they all went their separate ways."

"And Ruby?"

"She's being escorted to her father as we speak."

Alayna smiled. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

"I know. But you didn't have to rescue the rest of the girls, and you didn't have to bring me to this hospital."

"I would have done it for anyone else."

"I know. But thank you anyway." She extended her hand.

"You're welcome." Seifer said shaking her hand. He looked into her eyes, she looked back at him, they held each other's gaze for a few seconds.

"Well..." Alayna said, Seifer let go of her hand. "I better get going."

"Where are you going?" 

"To the train station."

"When is your train leaving?"  
  


"In about four hours."

Seifer thought for a moment; this could be his last chance to see this girl ever again he couldn't waste it. "...I-I'm passing by Galbadia Garden...I could drop you off if you want." 

"...Um...yeah. Thanks."

"'Cause you know...It'll be much faster." Seifer said a little to quickly.

"Yeah." Alayna agreed. "So...Shall we go?"

*************************************

Seifer and Alayna had been on the road for about an hour. He was truly enjoying her company; there had not been a long moment of silence between them, mainly thanks to her. She was talkative, but not in an annoying sense, she asked him about Balam Garden and about all the places he had traveled. 

Seifer couldn't help glancing at her once in a while, even in her tattered clothes and with her scrapes and bruises she still looked beautiful. Courage, beauty and intelligence, Seifer thought, she seemed to be the perfect woman. He had to learn more about her, what could he ask her? What she did for fun, what she didn't like, or maybe... "So how's Galbadia Garden doing?" Damn, that hadn't come out right.

"Much better since Martine left. We actually get to do fun things now, there are all sorts of clubs to join and we also have new sports. You'd have to be crazy to be bored in Galbadia Garden."

"Are you in any sports?"

"No. But I'm in the Racing Club."

"Racing Club?"

"Driving. I just love to sit behind the wheel of a car and floor the accelerator." Alayna smiled.

"You seem to really like it there."

Alayna's smile faded, her face took on a sad expression. "...I...used to."

Should he ask her why? Or should he leave it at that? But what if she told him it was none of his business? No. She wouldn't say that, would she? She could have lied and said that she did like it, but she didn't. "What do you mean?"

Alayna looked out the window and stared at the wide desert for a few seconds. "...I don't know if you noticed, but the Headmaster didn't even send someone to pick me up." There was silence for a few moments. "I'm not exactly his favorite student...or anybody's for that matter. They were probably happy that I was gone, didn't even ask me where I've been."

Seifer said nothing, he wanted to ask her why, but he didn't want to push her. But then again, if he didn't say anything she would probably think that he wasn't interested. "...Do you mind if I ask why?"

"I'm the one who brought it up." Alayna turned to look at Seifer, she didn't know why, but she felt she could trust him. "...It all started with a guy. He's perfect in everyone's eyes, good-looking, first rank everything...everyone sees him as _Hyne Jr. or something. He's the guy that 'every' girl wants and every guy wants to be."_

Seifer didn't like that guy already, the way she was talking about him sounded as if he had hurt her.

"Anyway," Alayna continued, "he asked me out, repeatedly. And I said no, repeatedly. At the time I liked this other guy, plus people like what's-his-name have never impressed me. He was shocked to discover that not _every girl wanted him, so he decided he would make me pay...and that he did."_

"What did he do?" Just knowing that someone would go as low as to hurt another person for that reason made Seifer extremely angry.

"...Um..." She looked out the window again. "...He said some things, he and all his male friends. The sort of things that make a girl seem 'not nice' anymore. Everyone, and I mean everyone, now thinks I'm the slut from Hell."

"And everyone including the Headmaster believed him?" Seifer asked outraged.

"He's the Headmaster's son, you can't expect anyone to believe me, a lowly student with no parents. I nearly got expelled. You should see the way people look at me when I walk down the hall, my roommate even asked to be moved to a different dorm. She said I would 'ruin her image'."

"If it's that bad, why are you still there?"

Alayna looked at him. "I know it seems stupid, and it probably is. But I can't leave, fighting, protecting; those are the only things I know how to do. If I leave I'll just end up cleaning tables at a restaurant somewhere."

"That doesn't have to happen, you're young, you could find a career that you like."

"But for that I would need to go to a university, and those cost money that I don't have. All I have is the Garden."

This was too good to be true, Seifer thought, his seemingly stupid question had led him somewhere. "...Why don't you transfer to Balam Garden?"

"What?" 

"That would solve everything, you'd still get to fight and protect, plus you could start over."

"You really think I could?" The smile returned to her face once more.

"I'll make sure of it." 

***************************************

After arriving at Galbadia Garden Seifer discovered that Alayna had not exaggerated one bit. They way people looked at her was truly scary, and she didn't deserve that. 

He called Balam Garden and explained the situation to Cid, he agreed to have Alayna transfer to Balam. After receiving her records by fax Cid called Seifer and told him that he was eager to have someone with her skills in his Garden.

Alayna happily packed her possessions, then without looking back left the place that had once meant the world to her.

*********************************************


	6. New Beginning

**Disclaimer**: Squaresoft still hasn't returned my phone calls; so I guess it means that I still don't own FF8 or its characters. *sigh* Luckily I still have my own characters to keep me entertained.

Again thanks so very, very much for all your wonderful reviews. It truly means a lot to me. Thank you.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(New Beginning) 

Seifer and Alayna arrived at Balam Garden late in the afternoon. After a meeting with Cid Alayna was shown to her dorm, which she was to share with a girl named Solina. Seifer then gave her a quick tour of the Garden, still not one hundred percent recovered and in need of rest, Alayna decided to go bed following the tour.

Her new home, her new life...Seifer. Just thinking about him made her smile, he had saved her life...given her a new one. So many times she had cursed the day when the Headmaster's son started the barrage of rumors about her; he was the one responsible for everything she had gone through.

It had been hell after he and his friends had started the rumors. Alayna had managed to endure weeks of hurtful comments by the people she had once considered her friends. It seemed that the few rumors had a snowball effect, they began to grow more and more each day. Pretty soon the entire Garden knew who she was and what her 'extracurricular' activities were, though none of that was true.

It would pass, she told herself, soon they would find something new to talk about, but it seemed to be getting worse each day. On her way to the library one day she passed a group of girls, as soon as they saw her they began to whisper and point at her. Alayna tried to hurry past them, not watching where she was going she bumped into someone.

"S-sorry." She said not realizing who the person was.

"Get out of my way slut!" Alayna looked up at the person, it was Chris. Chris, whom she had liked since she came to Galbadia Garden, Chris who was always walking her to class and cheering for her at the races, Chris who had asked her to the Spring Formal: without giving her a second look he continued on his way. She just stood there, watching him go, tears started to well up in her eyes. She heard the group of girls laughing at her, she turned around and started to head toward the exit, her pace increasing as she walked.

Once she made it out of the Garden she started to run. She didn't care that she had no equipped magic and her weapons were tucked away in her dorm, all she wanted to do was get away. The monsters and the dangers of the outside didn't matter, they couldn't be any worse than the monsters inside the Garden.

She ran until she felt that she could run no longer, she sat on a rock, and looked toward Galbadia Garden; she couldn't even see it anymore. Tears started running down her face, what was she going to do now? Go back? She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears, there was no time to cry, she needed to think. 

She heard a humming sound in the distance, she looked up and saw a vehicle approaching. Had they sent someone from Garden to look for her? More than likely, students at Galbadia Garden needed to sign out whenever they left Garden. Some one had probably told on her when they saw her walk out. 

She just sat there watching it come closer and closer, it didn't look like a Garden vehicle it was a gray van; she figured it was just someone driving by. It stopped next to her, they probably just wanted directions, she thought. Four men wearing black ski masks jumped out: they all pointed assault rifles at her. So they weren't looking for directions after all, she stared at their masked faces trying to recognize them but found that impossible. She didn't move, there was no way to escape one wrong move and they would shoot her, they forced her inside the van. 

She never found out who they were, or what they wanted from her, there wasn't anything special about her, so why had they kidnapped her? Well, no point in thinking about it now that her life was back to normal. No point in thinking about the hell they had put her through, the hell that the Headmaster's son had put her through.

Yes, she had cursed the day that it all started many, many times. But if none of that had happened she would not have met Seifer, so perhaps all her suffering had been worth it...Seifer...she smiled again. In her eyes he was the hero that no one else believed he was.

**************************************

For the first time in over a month Alayna was eager to get up and face the world. As soon as she woke up she jumped out of bed and into the shower. She felt fully recovered; after stepping out of the shower she dressed in her new uniform then looked at her face in the mirror, the scrape on her chin was healing quickly. When she was about to leave for the cafeteria her roommate approached her and invited her to have breakfast, Alayna gladly accepted her offer.

Once they arrived at the cafeteria Solina, her roommate, pointed at a table where a raven-haired girl and a spiky-haired blond young man sat.

"There. Come on, I'll introduce you." Solina said.

Alayna recognized the two; she felt butterflies in her stomach as they drew closer to the pair. Would they remember her? The more likely answer was no. They had only seen each other once, the day when—

"Morning." Solina called to them. They both turned, smiled and returned the greeting. "This is Alayna," she motioned to her, "she just transferred from Galbadia Garden yesterday." She turned to Alayna. "This is Rinoa, she motioned to the girl, and my boyfriend Zell." 

"Welcome." Rinoa smiled and extended her hand, Alayna took it.

Zell offered his hand as well. "Nice—Hey! I know who you are!" He looked at Rinoa. "Don't you remember?"

Rinoa studied Alayna's face for about a second. "Of course! Galbadia Garden!" She smiled. Alayna smiled back.

"Here sit down." Solina motioned to the chair next to hers. "How do you guys know each other?" 

"We—" 

"Hi." Squall sat at their table just as Zell began to speak.

"Hey Squall!" Zell said excitedly. "Look who's the new student." He motioned to Alayna.

Squall looked at her briefly, she looked vaguely familiar, but he just couldn't place her face. Why did his friends always put him on the spot like that? What was he supposed to say? He couldn't just say that he didn't remember her.

"From Galbadia..." Rinoa prompted. 

Still couldn't remember.

"Sorceress..." Zell said.

Nothing.

"You'll have to forgive our Commander," Zell said, "he's not great when it comes to remembering faces."

"Commander?" Alayna stood. "I'm sorry, I had no idea!"

"There is no reason to apologize." Squall reassured her, "Everyone treats me just like they would every other student."

"Thank you." Alayna sat down. Wow, she thought, the commander was young; and cute. Rinoa kissed him on the cheek. And taken. Oh well, she liked Seifer anyway, but she had forgotten just how good-looking Squall was.

"Okay." Rinoa said. "When Balam Garden was being attacked by Galbadia Garden..."

*****************************

Seifer entered the cafeteria and scanned the room for a table. He stopped his gaze at the table where Squall and his friends sat; Alayna was there too. Why the hell did she have to choose that particular table? He should have gone to her room and asked to breakfast; well, too late now. He looked for a different table to sit in: all full. He turned around and walked out of the cafeteria.

He went and sat on the bench by the library. What could he do now? He could go to the Training Center and practice. Practice? For what? 

"Mind if I sit down?" He looked up and to his surprise saw Alayna standing by him.

"Uh...No." He moved over.

"I decided to come join you, since I saw you leave because all the tables were full."

He nodded. "I see you already made friends." He sounded a little more upset than he intended to.

"They seem really nice."

Yeah, _really nice_, he thought bitterly, to everyone but him. "Do you know them from somewhere?" Seifer was curious to know just _why she had picked them out of all the students at Garden._

"Um...well...most of them." She sounded nervous, it seemed as if she wasn't eager to talk about it. This only served to spike his curiosity.

"Most of them?"

Hyne! Why did he have to ask? She didn't want to tell him, she really, really liked him, if she told him he could very well just walk out of her life. Yet, she couldn't lie, he would know eventually, and she never was good at lying anyway. "Um...I met them when you were leading the attack on Balam Garden." 

"So?"

She lowered her head. "...I...I gave them the...um... the card key that led them to you and the sorceress." She turned to look at him, his eyes were ice cold. "I'm sorry." She turned away. "I know they wouldn't have reached you if it wasn't for me."

Seifer didn't know what to think. Should he be mad at her? Should he just shrug it off and pretend it didn't happen? That day he had been humiliated in front of Squall, were it not for her that would not have happened. He looked at her, she was looking down at the floor and looked as if she was about to cry. Could he blame her for what she did? 

He looked at her again, he saw a tear run down her cheek, she quickly wiped it away. He hated seeing her sad. He knew that she really was sorry, the look on her face told him. It wasn't really her fault, they would have reached him eventually anyway. Damn. Why was she so easy to forgive? He couldn't blame her. She was only trying to protect her home and her friends, she had been brave and stayed behind to help. There was nothing _to forgive. How could he blame her for what she'd done?_

"I-I'll just go." She stood up.

"Wait." Seifer took hold of her wrist. "Sit down."

She wanted to leave, she didn't want him to see her cry, and she certainly didn't want to hear him say that he hated her. 

"You don't have to be sorry." 

She wanted to look up at him, but she knew that if she did she would not be able to hold back her tears. 

"I would have done the same thing."

"R-really?" She asked in a chocked voice. "I-I just—you've been so nice to me and helped me so much—I wish I hadn't done it but..." She couldn't finish, tears started running down her cheeks.

"Really. No hard feelings." He extended his hand. She took it, but didn't look at him. "And no crying." He smiled.

She nodded.

Why did he act so different when he was around her? He would _never have said that to anyone else. Now he felt bad because __she felt bad, he had never meant to make her cry. He was just shocked to hear what she'd said. "So. Do you want to go with me to the Training Center? You have to practice for your exam." He wanted to make up for making her cry._

"O-okay." 

"I'll wait here while you go get your weapon."

She nodded then walked in the direction of the dorms. Well, she thought as she wiped away tears, that hadn't been so bad. She was glad to be going to the dorm; she'd be able to fix her makeup.

*************************************

Seifer stood next to the metal door that led to the Training Center, he was wearing blue jeans and a black sweatshirt, in his right hand he held his gunblade, which he was slightly bouncing on his shoulder. He looked at his watch, it was 6:36 am. "Two more minutes." He muttered under his breath. 

One and a half minutes later he saw a very sleepy-looking Alayna walk down the hall toward him. She was wearing black sweat pants and a white tee shirt; her long black hair was tied back in ponytail. Her weapons, kamas, two eighteen inch wooden sticks with a bent steel blade at the end, hung from a leather belt at either side of her hips.

"It's about time." Seifer said. "I was almost gonna go in there and train by myself."

Alayna said nothing, she gave him a sidelong glance as she passed him then proceeded to open the metal door and stepped inside the Training Center. 

Seifer followed after her and closed the door behind him. Alayna kept quiet as they walked deeper into the Training Center, he was tempted to ask her why she was acting so strange. She didn't seem like her usual up beat self. Maybe she didn't want to train with him after all, but she had seemed to like the idea. 

They had not been able to do any training the day before, Seifer had spent most of the time showing her around the Training Center and giving her advice on what she should and shouldn't do while she was in there. She had seemed interested and had agreed to meet him there the next day, so why did she seem upset to be there? "Is something wrong?" He finally asked.

Alayna stopped then turned to face him. "Who the hell gets up at the crack of dawn to train?" Not only was she acting different, but also sounded different.

"It's not dawn, it's already after six thirty." Seifer corrected her. "I told you yesterday that we should start training early and you agreed." 

"I thought that you meant 'before ten' early, not that you'd be knocking at my door at six in the morning." She seemed rather irritated. 

Her attitude both annoyed and amused Seifer. "Six fifteen." He corrected once again. "...I see." He smirked. "Not a morning person." She raised an eyebrow in response. "Well," Seifer said as he saw something creeping up behind her. "I hope you're more alert than you look, because there's a grat right behind you."

Almost on instinct Alayna pulled out her kamas holding one in each hand. She quickly turned and kicked the grat on the side, then jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by one of its long skinny arms. She spread her arms and began moving in a circular motion toward the grat striking it with the blade in her right hand then the one on the left. Alayna then stopped in front of the grat, turned the palm of her right hand toward it and cast a fire spell. The grat fell to the ground immobile.

"Impressive." Seifer admitted. "Not bad for someone who's half asleep." He teased.

Fire seemed to burn in her brown eyes at his words, then she smiled wickedly. Without warning she rushed at Seifer, her kamas raised high in the air. When she reached him he barely had time to block her blow with his gunblade. She jumped back. "I may be half asleep," she said, "but I can still kick your butt."

"I'd like to see you try." He challenged.

An hour later they walked out of the Training Center, Alayna was her smiling self once again the early morning demons seemed to have left her body. They didn't find out who could kick who's butt, but they did get a good work out. They agreed to do that again the next day, except a little later, per Alayna's request.

************************************

Alayna knew nothing but happiness the next two weeks. She spent her time getting to know her new acquaintances who quickly became her new friends. She became especially close to Solina, who Alayna soon named her best friend, she also enjoyed spending time with Rinoa and Selphie. Quistis was nice, but she was always so serious, and it seemed that she preferred to sit with one of the older SeeDs and discuss books than hang out with them. Alayna hardly ever talked to Squall or Irvine, other than the usual friendly greeting or a 'please pass the salt'. Zell on the other hand, had become sort of a big brother to her; he was always very protective.

Seifer was not liked by many people in Garden, especially Zell and Squall, so Alayna found it difficult at times to keep everyone happy. When she was with Seifer she couldn't be with Zell or the others and vice versa. But she had learned to work around that. 

Yes, things were looking up. She never thought that she would be happy again, but it seemed as tough life had proved her wrong; and for that she was glad.

****************************************


	7. Field Exam Surprise

**Disclaimer:** Damn Squaresoft! They e-mailed me telling me to keep my characters and leave FF8 and its characters alone because that belongs to them: the nerve.

Again, thanks so very much to all those who took the time to review. Thanks for your suggestion Vick330, I'm trying to see how I can work that one out. And a special thanks to Vamp Queen.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(Field Exam Surprise)

"Will all the SeeD Candidates participating in today's field exam please assemble at the parking lot in twenty minutes. I repeat..."

Two weeks after Alayna arrived at Balam Garden the fated day of the field exam had finally arrived. Alayna hastily changed into her student uniform, checked her junctions, and grabbed her weapons before rushing out the door.

Five minutes later she was in the parking lot standing next to Solina. Once all the students had arrived Xu, Cid and Squall approached them.

"I will now announce the teams." Xu said. "Squad A..."

"Are you excited?" Alayna whispered to Solina.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yes. Are you nervous?"

"Yes. Are you?"  
  


"Yes."

"Squad B..." Xu continued.

"I hope we're together." Solina whispered.

"Me too."

"Squad C..." Xu announced. "Solina Halstead, Damian Storm and Squad Leader, Alayna Orden. Squad D..." Alayna and Solina looked at each other and smiled. "Now for your mission. Squall?" 

Squall stepped forward. "You are to go to the City of Highland near Dollet. Two days ago the city was overrun with monsters, no one knows how or where they came from. Soldier's attempts to drive the monsters out of the city have been unsuccessful due to their great numbers. A request for SeeD was put in at one a.m. this morning. Your job then, is to rid the city of the monsters."

 "Successfully complete the tasks given to you and you will become a member of the SeeD force." Cid said. "Xu is giving everyone a radio. If you encounter anything that you cannot handle _call the SeeD forces. Now then, best of luck to all." _

They all stepped inside the vehicles, their hearts beating rapidly, ready to face their destiny.

********************************

The SeeDs and SeeD Candidates boarded a vessel at Balam Harbor and headed for Dollet. Immediately after landing in Dollet they boarded the SeeD vehicles that were to take them to the City of Highland. Once inside the vehicles they were to be given their assignments. 

Quistis climbed into the Squad C vehicle. "I will be the instructor in charge of your squad." She informed the Squad C members. "Your assignment will be to exterminate the monsters near the Power Plant in the eastern end of the city. Unfortunately it is a heavily populated area, therefore I ask you to be extra cautious."

Alayna was a bit disappointed, she had hoped for something more exciting than fighting monsters.

"And if any of you were hoping for something more exciting than exterminating monsters," Quistis said, "trust me, you don't need more excitement. Those monsters are at least ten times more powerful than the ones you are accustomed to fighting at the Training Center. They are mostly Ruby and Blue Dragons and Toarmas." 

Toramas. Alayna shuttered at the thought, she was hoping that after her ordeal she wouldn't ever have to fight another. 

Quistis looked from one face to the other. "These monsters are _not to be taken lightly. And again, keep in mind that this is a _populated_ area. Any rash actions on your behalf may have a negative effect on the citizens." _

The vehicle stopped, Quistis handed Alayna a map. "This is a map of the area, the Power Plant is in that direction." She pointed to the East. "Are your radios working properly?" All three candidates nodded. "Are your junctions ready?" They nodded again. "If there is any trouble;" She pointed at the radio in her ear, "call me, also let me know as soon as you have exterminated all the monsters in your area. Any questions?" All three shook their heads. "Very well. Good luck to you."

Alayna, Solina and Damian climbed out of the vehicle. SeeDs and Candidates could be seen rushing to their destinations. Alayna gazed at the city; save for the monsters and soldiers it looked empty. "Let's go." She said as she headed for the Power Plant.

*************************************

"I think that's all of them." Damian came jogging down the street toward Solina and Alayna. A gash could be seen on his left forearm, the sleeve of his uniform had been torn off.

"Oh, Hyne." Solina walked up to Damian and cast a Cure on him. "Instructor Trepe was right, we did _not need a bigger challenge. I almost died __twice."_

"I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't found that Cure Draw Point." Alayna was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk examining the blade on one of her kamas.

"What now?" Damian asked.

"Now," Alayna said standing up, "we need to report back to Instructor Trepe."

"I wonder if—"

"Shhh!" Alayna hissed interrupting Solina. "Do you hear that?" She whispered. They could hear voices below the hill behind them.

"Maybe they're SeeDs." Damian suggested.

"I don't think so." Alayna said quietly. 

"Highland soldiers?" Solina asked.

"We were the only team assigned to this area. Plus soldiers and SeeDs are required to tell us if they are moving into our assigned space." Alayna said thoughtfully. 

"So what do we do?" Damian asked.

"Let's go see who they are, if they're citizens we'll have to escort them to their home." Alayna started walking toward the voices. "Stay down and keep quiet." 

Beyond the left side of the street the cement sidewalk ended giving way to a hill, below which was the Power Plant. The three Candidates crouched down when they reached the top of the hill. 

"Let's go. If any of those SeeDs find us here, they'll probably figure out that we were the ones responsible for the monsters." A man dressed in a gray uniform was stepping away from the door to the Power Plant, he was followed by two others.

"What do we do?" Damian asked quietly.

"I think we should just let Instructor Trepe know." Solina said.

"Yes." Alayna said as she saw the men turn the corner and disappear behind the Power Plant. "I know we can take them, but we better let the instructor know, she can tell us what to do." She put most of her wait on small rock in front of her to get a better look. 

"She'll probably send—" Alayna gasped as the rock gave away under her weight, it rolled down the hill, Alayna along with it. She bumped her elbow on what she guessed was another rock then felt dirt penetrate her nostrils and mouth. For a few seconds all she saw was clouds, sky and dirt spinning around; then a log that she somehow managed to go around. Grace was now a mere memory; a word that seemed lost in the back of her mind. Finally she came to a painful stop at the bottom of the hill. She closed her eyes. "...Ow..." She said quietly then tried to spit out the dirt in her mouth.

She slowly sat up her left elbow was sore, but that seemed to be as far as her injuries went. 

"Did you hear that?" She heard one of the men say. 

Before she could think about what she was doing she found herself running for the door to the Power Plant. She pushed forward and was relieved to find that the door was unlocked. She hastily stepped inside and closed it. She turned to face the wall; her brown eyes grew wide at the sight before her.

"Oh. My. Hyne." She said slowly. "A bomb."

************************************

Marcus Emerson was not a happy man; his plans for a relaxing vacation in Esthar had been shattered. His boss had sent two other members of their organization with him to look for Alayna Orden, this left Marcus unable to follow through with his plan. He couldn't 'pretend' be looking for her when he was being watched 24/7. The previous two weeks had been spent looking for her in every possible place; he had been unsuccessful and had now been punished. He was bored out of his mind, he didn't know why his boss had sent him on a mission where he wasn't needed, his only guess was that it was part of his punishment. 

"Sir!" His thoughts were interrupted by one of his men. "The bomb is ready. Set to go off in fifteen minutes."

"Maybe you could say that a little louder." Marcus' green eyes burned into the other man's. "I don't think the SeeDs at the other side of town heard you." The man lowered his gaze. "Well, we better head out then. I want you—" Marcus was interrupted by a voice coming over his hand-held radio. 

"_This is the Power Plant team. SeeD knows that we're here. Requesting instructions. Over."_

Marcus hastily pressed the button on his radio. "What do you mean they know we're here? Over."

"Two of them saw us. The other two men are trying to stop them but...They're SeeDs. Over."

"Where are you? Over."

"We're still at the Power Plant. We—" 

Silence. "Carter! Come in!" Silence. "Damn it!" Marcus closed his eyes for a short moment. "Damn." He muttered under his breath. He turned to his men. "Let's go to the Power Plant. If there are only two SeeDs we'll be able to take them. We have to get there before they make our men talk and before they call for reinforcements." 

Marcus and about ten other men, the only ones remaining for the mission, made their way to their motorcycles. The other men, along with the trucks that had been used to haul the monsters into the city had left the previous day. Marcus had been doomed by his boss to oversee that the mission was successful.

"If the SeeDs are too much for you to handle: retreat. We cannot afford to get caught." Marcus said as he climbed on his motorcycle. The rest of the men did the same, then followed him to the Power Plant.

**********************************

Alayna's first reaction when she saw the bomb was to run out the door. She pulled on the handle, but to her dismay found that it was locked. "OhnopleaseHyne!" She pulled on it again, though she knew it wouldn't work. She spotted a panel on the side of the door: she needed a card key to open it. She turned back to the bomb, it was steadily counting down to zero; it read thirteen minutes and twelve seconds.

"No problem." Alayna said taking a deep breath then releasing it. "I'll just call Instructor Trepe. Then she'll send a team of explosives experts and they'll get me out." She reached to tap the radio in her ear but was unpleasantly surprised when she didn't find it. "No." She frantically searched the floor. Nothing. She guessed it must have fallen while she was rolling down the hill.

She was locked in a room with a bomb; tears started to well up in her eyes. She couldn't let it end that way, not now that her life was worth living again, not now that she had met new friends. She took another deep breath and was able to slightly calm down, as long as the timer didn't reach zero there was still hope. Plus, Damian and Solina were still outside; they had probably already called Instructor Trepe and informed her of the situation. But they didn't know there was a bomb in there! What if they didn't make it in time? She needed to get out. 

She looked around trying to find an escape route: nothing. She ran to the door and started banging on it, if the men were still there they would hear her, but she would rather fight through three men than try to defuse a bomb. "LET ME OUT!" She banged harder. "OPEN THE DOOOOR!"

To her surprise someone opened the door, she jumped back ready to spring into action. 

"Are you okay Alayna?" Came Solina's concerned voice.

"Solina!" Alayna ran outside. "Call Instructor Trepe, tell her there's a bomb in the Power Plant!"

Solina's eyes grew wide, but she didn't question, she immediately did what she was told. "Instructor Trepe, this is the Squad C, Alayna found a bomb inside the power plant."

"Where are the men we saw?" Alayna turned to Damian while Solina talked to Quistis.

"We took care of them...but..."

"What?"

"They called for reinforcements, they're on their way."

"The Instructor wants to know what kind of bomb it is." Solina said.

"I don't know!" This was a time when Alayna wished she had taken that course on explosives in Galbadia Garden, but it had seemed boring at the time, so she opted for a dance class instead. A lot of good dancing was going to do now, she thought bitterly. "I know nothing about explosives."

"How much time until it explodes?"

Alayna poked her head inside the door. "Eleven minutes and thirty-five seconds. Don't forget to tell her that more of those soldiers or whatever are coming."

Solina related the information to Quistis then after a short pause said: "Alayna, she wants to know if you can carry it."

Alayna stared wide-eyed. "_Carry it?" She asked as she felt her mouth go dry. Solina nodded. "I don't know...what if I move it and it explodes?" Pictures of fire and death began dancing in her head._

Damian ran inside the Power Plant, he went back out about two seconds later. "It looks light enough to be carried. And it doesn't look like it's connected to anything, so we could probably move it."

_Probably. Alayna had hoped to hear __definitely rather than __probably. ___

"She says we can't let the Power Plant blow up." Solina repeated what Quistis had told her. "And if she sends someone to defuse it over here they might not be able to do it in time, so she wants us to meet them with it if we are able to carry it." 

Alayna closed her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to run away from the bomb, but she knew that was not possible. There were also the residents and their homes to think about. Plus, obeying was her duty. If she chose not to she would never be a SeeD; if she did she might die. She had stared death in the face before, being a SeeD meant that she would have to do it constantly. If she was indeed going to die she should at least do it gracefully. Obeying, being the best that she could. Going out with a _bang. She shook her head at the bad choice of words. "Fine." She sighed. _

"Yes Instructor." Solina turned off her radio and looked at Alayna. "She said to go west until we meet them. And about the other men who are coming, she said to leave them to SeeD, all we have to do is get the bomb to them."

West, that would mean climbing back up the hill and going into the street. "Well, we better go before those reinforcements arrive." Alayna ran inside and looked at the bomb. Less than ten minutes until it reached zero. She carefully and reluctantly picked it up bracing herself for the explosion; she held her breath. When nothing happened she exhaled, then stepped outside. She began to hear a humming sound that grew louder with every passing second. 

"They're coming!" Damian pointed to the east.

Alayna looked in that direction and saw a group of men on motorcycles rapidly approaching. "Solina, give me your radio." 

"Why?"

"There is no way we can outrun them, I need to go alone and have you guys slow them down until the SeeDs arrive. Just use your GFs once, that should slow them down, then follow in my direction."

Solina removed her earpiece and gave it to Alayna. She took it and equipped it on herself. 

"Remember to follow as soon as you have used your GFs." Alayna said before heading up the hill, the bomb carefully between her hands and her life flashing before her eyes.

*****************************************

Marcus led his men toward the Power Plant. He saw two lone figures standing at the bottom of the hill; his first thought was that it was a trap. Why else would they be standing there? Luring them. He was about to turn back not wanting to risk being caught when he noticed the girl climbing the hill. It wasn't a trap, he suddenly realized they were trying to slow them down; to keep them away from the girl. He saw her reach the top of the hill then start running west on the street. She was probably trying to get to the other SeeDs, he noticed that she was carrying something; a box-like object between her hands. 

He signaled to his men to go after the two at the bottom of the hill while he went behind the Power Plant and up the street that would lead him to the girl.

**************************************

Eight minutes and fourteen seconds. Alayna looked at the timer on the bomb as she ran; still no sign of the SeeDs. "Oh no." She heard the sound of a lone motorcycle behind her, she looked over her shoulder and saw it rapidly approaching her. She continued to run, she was determined not to stop unless she absolutely needed to. 

She could hear and feel the motorcycle right behind her, she looked over her shoulder and saw the rider's eyes grow wide in surprise when he saw her face. He stopped, jumped off the motorcycle and followed after her on foot.

"Orden?!" 

Alayna stopped and turned around at the sheer surprise of hearing her name. But then kept running when she remembered what she was holding in her hands. 

"Alayna!" He finally caught up to her and took hold of her right arm, causing her to nearly drop the bomb.

"You god-forsaken MORON!" Alayna turned to face the man. "Are you trying to get us killed?!"

He ignored her. "You are coming with me."

How did he know her, she couldn't remember ever seeing him before; but that didn't matter at the moment. "Like hell I am!" She tried to run forward again, but he got hold of the back of her uniform jacket. "If I drop this we'll both DIE, do you understand?!"

"Then just sit it gently on the ground." He smirked.

Alayna looked at the timer; seven minutes and twenty-two seconds. She did as he said and gently sat the bomb on the ground. She quickly undid her kamas from her belt. "If I fail and don't make it to the SeeD Ball and I don't get to dance with Seifer because of you..."

"Or what if you die because the bomb explodes?" He pulled his sword from its scabbard. He wasn't going to let a bomb stop him from bringing the prize back to his boss.

"Then you are going to Hell because you'll die too." She rushed at him weapons raised high in the air, she struck upon reaching him but he was able to block with his sword.

"Look, I'm not trying to kill you," he said blocking another blow, "I'm just defending myself." 

At his words Alayna stepped back. "Then why won't you let me get the bomb to it's destination?!" She tapped her earpiece. "Instructor Trepe, this is Alayna tell those SeeDs to hurry, I'm facing-off against the bozo responsible for the bomb and the monsters." She paused, then glance at the bomb. "Six minutes and two seconds." She paused again. "Yes Instructor, I'm trying." She tapped her earpiece again then turned her attention to Marcus. "There are SeeDs on their way here, it'd be best for you if you left."

"I'm not leaving without you."

Alayna found his stupidity unbelievable, at this moment she didn't care how he knew her. All she wanted to do was get rid of him and take the bomb away from those houses and to the people who would be able to defuse it. She turned the palm of her right hand toward him. "Blizzard!" 

Marcus felt the paralyzing cold enter through his skin and settle in his bones. It took him a brief moment to recover, once he had he turned his palm toward Alayna in the same manner that she had and said: "Silence!"

This was the first time that Alayna had ever been Silenced, she discovered that she did not like it. She didn't have an item that could help her, most of her resources had been spent fighting the monsters. She knew she didn't have much time, she needed to get rid of that man and get back to delivering the bomb.

She extended her arms, a kama in each hand, and started moving rapidly in a circular motion toward Marcus. She struck a blow with each hand in every turn, Marcus was able to block off the first few, but she moved too fast and was too close. The last blow cut him across his left cheek.

He stepped back stunned, and touched his bleeding face with a trembling hand. "You little bitch." At that moment all he knew was anger, he wanted nothing more than to kill the girl, and he would have tried had he not seen the SeeDs approaching them. He knew exactly what fate would befall him if he didn't leave. "This is not over yet." He told Alayna, she looked defiantly at him. He ran to his motorcycle and rode back toward the Power Plant. 

Alayna quickly put her weapons back in her belt then carefully picked up the bomb and ran toward the SeeDs. Two minutes and forty seconds remained when she reached them.

The group consisted of three SeeDs, she recognized one of them as Caleb, whom she had met on the day of her escape; she handed him the bomb.

One of the other SeeDs, a small blond girl, opened a case containing a variety of small tools. The girl handed Caleb a very small screwdriver, he proceeded to remove the screws while the last SeeD, a red-haired man about Caleb's age typed something on his laptop. Caleb removed the cover of the bomb revealing what looked like the inside of an alarm clock that had tangled wires of different colors.

"One minute-fifty seconds." The female SeeD said. She handed Caleb a pair of pliers from the case.

The other SeeD tapped a few more keys on the laptop then looked at Caleb and said: "Blue." 

Caleb looked at him. "You sure?" The SeeD nodded. Caleb looked at the bomb then cut the blue wire. 

Alayna held her breath and braced herself for the explosion. Nothing. The timer stopped at one minute-fifteen seconds. She noticed a smile form on Caleb's lips, she couldn't help but do the same. 

"Wow." Alayna turned when she heard Solina's voice, she hadn't noticed that her and Damian were standing behind her.

"Quistis is on her way to pick you up." Caleb said to the three candidates. "You guys did good." 

"Thank you." Damian and Solina said in unison.

"What happened to the guys that you saw at the Power Plant?" Caleb asked.

"Their leader passed by us yelling at them to retreat." Damian answered.

"Any idea who they were?"

"No sir." Solina said.

Alayna saw two SeeD vehicles approaching them. She tried to tell Solina but was still Silenced. She pointed north, they all turned in that direction. Caleb turned back to her. "You're Silenced." He smiled. Alayna nodded sheepishly. "Esuna." 

"Thank you." Alayna said. 

The two vehicles stopped near them, Quistis climbed out from one of them. "Well done Squad C." She said. "Time to go." 

They made their way to the vehicle, Caleb's team climbed into the other. Alayna caught a glimpse of her reflection on the window of the vehicle. Her hair was sticking out at strange angles and dirt smudges covered her face. She tried to smooth down her hair, but it was no use. She climbed into the vehicle and sat next to Solina. Damian sat opposite of them while Quistis sat next to the driver.

"Do you think we passed?" Solina asked. 

Alayna closed her eyes. "We better have."

********************************

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review, even if you didn't like it. But if you didn't like it tell me why so I can do better next time. Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	8. The SeeD Ball

**Disclaimer: **I don't own FF8 or its characters, but Squaresoft lets me play with them if I promise to put them back after I'm done. I still own all the characters that were not in the game.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(The SeeD Ball)

Boredom was starting to take its toll on Seifer; all day long he'd done nothing other than workout at the training center and wonder around Garden. Now he sat on his bed leafing through a weapons magazine. It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon; he was eager to find out how Alayna had done on her field exam, he had no doubt that she had passed, but he wanted to hear it from her; he wanted to see her smile and say--.

"Will everyone who participated on today's field exam please report to the second floor hallway. I repeat..." His thoughts were interrupted by the welcome announcement over the intercom.

They were back; Seifer closed his magazine and stood up. He made his way out of his dorm and into the hall; a group of girls stopped him just as he reached the main hall. "Hi Seifer." A tall blond stood in front of him twirling a strand of hair with her finger. "Are you going to be at the party?"

"Maybe." They giggled. He found the fact that the younger girls always flirted with him extremely irritating. The sad part about it was that they were basically the only ones who would speak to him. The reason for that he guessed was that they had not been Garden students at the time of the Ultimicia fiasco.

"I'll save you a dance if you go." The blond said, her friends giggled again.

"You do that." Seifer said walking off.

He walked past the training center and the library, he spotted Quistis walking out of the elevator; he walked up to her. "Instructor." He nodded in greeting.

"Hello Seifer."

"...How did the field exam go?"

Quistis smiled. "Are you wondering how Alayna did?"

"...I just want to know how it went." He looked away.

Quistis smiled again. "She was wonderful. You just missed her, after getting her diploma she said that she was going to take a nap before the party."

"Oh."

"You're going to be at the party right?" 

"Maybe."

"Okay. I'll see you there." She said before walking off. 

********************************************

Seifer made his way to the Ball Room, he stopped at the door; two young girls in fancy dresses giggled as they passed by him. He stepped inside and scanned the room; couples dancing, people laughing...and a really cute redhead in a silver dress. Actually he thought, she was pretty hot; he followed her with his gaze as she made her way across the room; his gaze suddenly stopped leaving the redhead forgotten.

Alayna stood a few feet away from him, laughing and talking to other girls. He couldn't take his eyes off her, she was the perfect picture of beauty and grace. She wore a long royal blue spaghetti-strap dress that complimented her beautiful figure, her dark hair was done in a simple but elegant up-do. Seifer could do nothing but gape at her. 

He saw her turn his way then say something to the girls and start walking toward him. He didn't know why, but suddenly he felt nervous, it was a strange feeling that he'd experienced very few times in his life. 

Alayna stopped in front of him. "Hi." She said.

"You look beautiful." Were the first words out of his mouth. Should he have said it? He always said what was on his mind, so why shouldn't he say it, it was true.

Alayna smiled shyly. "Thank you. I was gonna wear my SeeD uniform, but then I thought that I'll probably have a lot of chances to wear that later." She looked up at him. "You know what's really not fair?" She gave him a sly smile.

"What?"

"You look so good wearing your uniform," Seifer looked away as she said that, "I could never look that good in _my_ uniform. I have to get all dressed up and be in front of the mirror for ages to look decent."

"You don't need to dress up to look good."

Alayna looked down and smiled.

"Do you want to dance?" Seifer asked.

Her eyes lit up. "Okay." She took hold of his hand and led him to the dance floor.

**************************************

"Rinoa, I love your dress!" Selphie exclaimed. Rinoa was wearing a powder blue, long one-strap dress. She was holding Squall's hand; they had come to join Selphie, Irvine, Zell and Solina at their table.

"Thanks." Rinoa said as she and Squall sat down. "I love you guys' dresses too." Selphie was wearing a pink, strapless, frilly dress, while Solina wore a lavender halter-dress. The guys wore their SeeD uniforms. 

"Look at them," Rinoa pointed to Seifer and Alayna at the dance floor, who looked like they were having the time of their lives; "don't they make the cutest couple?"

"Yes," Selphie smiled, "I'm having fun just watching them."

"You think watching them is fun?" Zell asked incredulously.

"Well they're just so cute." Solina said. "They're like total opposites, which makes it even better."

"Yeah, they're total opposites." Zell said. "She's normal and he isn't." Solina slapped his arm.

"Zell's right." Squall agreed. 

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "Guys can be so immature."

"Hey, hey, hey! I didn't say anything." Irvine protested.

"I know." Selphie kissed him on the cheek. "Not _all guys are immature jerks."_

"Whatever." Squall said.

"And look at the way he's dancing." Zell pointed out. "He looks like he's taken lessons or something."

"Are you admitting that he's good?" Rinoa smiled.

"...The hell?! When did I say that?!"

"That's what it sounded like you said." Squall smirked.

"Look, all I meant was that for a guy to take _dancing lessons is...well...you know..."_

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Selphie said.

"That's because you're a girl." Zell said.

Solina stood up and pulled on Zell's arm. "Let's go before you say something that you'll regret, I want to dance anyway, come _wow_ me with your _natural dancing talent."_

"Fine." Zell stood up and followed her to the dance floor.

"Hi guys." Quistis and Taze approached their table; she wore a long burgundy two-piece dress. They sat down.

Rinoa pointed to Seifer and Alayna. "Aren't they cute?" Squall rolled his eyes.

"Yes." Quistis smiled.

"Don't start again." Squall warned.

"Fine, but only if you dance with me." Rinoa stood up.

Squall groaned in protest, but had to get up anyway, she was already at the dance floor.

*****************************************

"It's getting hot in here." Alayna fanned herself with her hand. 

"Come on." Seifer took hold of her hand and led her to the balcony.

"What a beautiful night." Alayna said looking at the moon.

All Seifer did was stare at her; she was so perfect; beautiful, intelligent and courageous. He had never met anybody like her.

"You know what?" She turned to look at Seifer. "There was a point when I thought that I would never be happy again." Her face took on a sad expression.

Seifer hated seeing her sad, he knew she didn't deserve it and he wanted nothing more than to make her smile. He would have changed the subject so she wouldn't have to think about such things, but he figured that talking about it would make her feel better. "Why?"

She sighed. "When I was at Galbadia Garden, even though everyone hated me, I still hoped that it would get better. But then when I was kidnapped...I...there were days when I thought that I was going to die. Even life at Galbadia Garden seemed better than the hell I went through." She looked at the moon again. "...But anyway, I shouldn't even be talking about that. I'm happy now." She turned to Seifer again. "Thank you...for listening. I don't know why, but I felt sad all of the sudden, I feel better now though."

Seifer didn't say anything, he just looked into her beautiful brown eyes; she didn't look away. He slowly bent down until their lips met; he kissed her softly. When she pulled back there was a smile on her lips; he smiled too, his first true smile in a very long time.

"What does this mean?" She asked still smiling.

"Huh?" Her question took him by complete surprise. "What?"

"What does this mean?" She repeated.

He gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"

"We just kissed. I want to know what this means." He gave her a blank look; she smiled again. "Just tell me what it _usually means when you kiss a girl for the first time." _

He was still confused. _What did it mean? He thought for a moment. __What did it usually mean when he kissed a girl for the first time? Usually he was just trying to see how far the girl would let him go, but he couldn't tell her that; and that wasn't the case with her. What __did it mean? He didn't even know. __What did it mean? That she looked pretty? No, it was a lot more than that. Maybe he did know, but he couldn't explain it._

"Well, since you're still not sure I'll give you time to think abut it."

"...O...K..." He looked at her. "What does _that mean?"_

"I just want to know where this leaves us. And I don't want to pressure you into anything, so I just want to give you time to think about it, then when you're ready you can tell me if we're still friends or what."

Did he know what it meant? He had an idea; he just didn't know how to put it into words. "What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" He asked.

"Nothing much."

"Do you want to go to Balam for dinner?" That would at least give him time to think of how to explain it.

"Okay." She smiled. "We better go back in, the party's almost over."

**********************************


	9. First Date

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FF8 or its characters (yeah, as if anyone thought I did) they belong to Squaresoft. All the characters that were not in the game belong to me.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(First Date)

Alayna glanced at the clock on her bedside table; five thirty in the afternoon. She had less than thirty minutes to get ready before Seifer came to pick her up...for their _date...She smiled at the thought, a __date with Seifer. Her smile suddenly waned, what if it wasn't a date? What if he just wanted to take her out to tell her that the kiss had been a mistake? What would she say? Should she drive back to Garden by herself? She needed to make sure that she had enough gil to rent a car. _

No, that was a stupid thought; she knew that Seifer liked her, maybe not as much as she liked him, but still, she could tell that he did. She wasn't trying to be annoying when she asked what the kiss meant, she just wanted to be sure; she needed to know _exactly where that left them. _

She took a deep breath. "No freaking out." She promised herself.

She walked over to the mirror and held a dress in front of her, what she had been thinking when she bought that dress she didn't know. She tossed it to the floor and bowed never to wear it. She chose a different outfit and held it in front of her again; this one was much better. She looked at the clock again, she needed to get ready soon; knowing Seifer he would knock at her door before six o'clock.

**********************************************

There was a knock on the door, Alayna poked her head from out of the closet and looked at the clock: fife fifty-nine. "Who is it?" She called, though she knew who it was; the oh-so-punctual:

"Seifer."

"It's open."

Seifer opened the door and stepped inside, he looked around, but didn't see Alayna anywhere.

"Just give me a minute." She poked her head out of the closet again.

"What are you doing in the closet?"

"I'm looking for something, since I just moved into my new dorm yesterday everything is still a mess and I can't find anything—Ow!" 

Seifer heard something bang against the wall. "Are you all right?"

"Damn." Seifer heard Alayna say quietly. "I'm fine, just banged my knee on the wall."

"What are you looking for?"

"My purse."

Seifer looked around then smiled. "Is it black?"

"Yes."

"Leather with two straps?"

Alayna poked her head out of the closet again. "Where is it?" Seifer pointed to the foot of the bed. "Oh." She stepped out of the closet rubbing her right knee.

"You look great." Seifer said when he saw her; she was wearing a short, aqua colored sundress. He felt a little under-dressed, wearing his black jeans and navy-blue shirt.

"Thank you."

"We better go." Seifer said. "It's already three past six."

**********************************************

Seifer and Alayna walked out of the little restaurant in Balam. In Seifer's opinion dinner had been wonderful; good food and even better company...He glanced at Alayna and took her hand as they walked down the cobble stone street. She didn't object, but smiled and kept walking beside him. "It's still early." Seifer said. "Do you want to do something else?"

Alayna thought for a moment. "Why don't we go take a walk at the beach?" She looked up at him and smiled. "It's so nice out."

*******************************************

It was already dark by the time the arrived at the beach. Rather than walk they started a small fire, sat by it and talked. They talked about nothing and everything; Seifer was surprised at how at-ease he felt around her, she was the first person, other than Raijin and Fujin, who had ever accepted him for who he was; flaws, past mistakes and all. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at her.

"Why are you smiling, Mr. Almasy?" 

He hadn't noticed her looking his way. "...Because."

"Tell me." 

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Alayna bit her lower lip, then smiled. "Fine. You don't have to tell me why you're smiling...why don't you tell me something else instead?"

"What?"

"...Tell me something that you've never told anyone before." She flashed him a sweet smile.

"No."

"Pleeease."

"No."

"Please with sugar and a cherry on top?"

"No."

"Come on, it doesn't have to be something big."

"What am I going to get out of it?"

She bit her lower lip again. "...I'll tell you something too."

He thought for a moment. "...You have to go first."

"Why?" 

"Ladies first. Plus I want to know how big _your confession is so I can know how big to make mine."_

"Okay." She thought for a moment.

"Well come on." Seifer urged. "You were the one who started it."

"Give me a minute." She thought some more. "Oooo! I got it!" The expression on her face turned serious. "But I don't want you to tell anyone."

"I won't."

"...Okay." She looked at him, then looked down. "...I..."

"You?" Seifer prompted.

"You don't have to rush me." She sounded serious.

"...Sorry."

"I...I can't eat chicken."

Seifer almost laughed but stopped himself when he saw that her face maintained the serious expression. "...Why? You're not a vegetarian, are you? We just had steak at the restaurant."

"Please don't laugh." Her expression remained serious.

"I'm not...I'm trying not to."

"Look...when I was about six years old and living in an orphanage there was this kid who as always bullying me around. He was older than me, he was like twelve; anyway, one day we were having chicken for dinner and he and some of his friends came to sit by me and they told me that the chickens we were eating were baby chocobos. They said that they were the same baby chocobos that we had found in their nest the day before. I was shocked, I felt so bad because my little friends and I had even named the little chocobos." She paused. "After that day I never looked at chicken the same way again." She lowered her head.

Seifer had a hand over his mouth as to prevent himself from laughing. "...Um...Yes...I can see how it would be _traumatizing for a child...yes."_

"You are an evil man." She punched his arm. "Your turn."

"I have nothing to tell."

"There has to be at least _one little thing."_

"No. My life is pretty uneventful."

Her brown eyes burned into his blue. "You are going to tell me."

"Make me."

"You gave me your word!"

"I never did."

"But you said you were going to make a confession too." Her expression remained angry.

"I'm not saying anything."

Her angry expression turned to one of sadness. "You are going to make me cry." He couldn't tell if she was lying, she really did look as if she might cry. "After I told you something very, _very personal you sit there and laugh at me, and then you say—"_

"Fine! I took dancing lessons!" He blurted it out before he could stop himself.

Alayna smiled. "Really? How cute, no wonder you were such a good dancer."

"If you tell anyone—" 

"I won't! I swear!" She held up her hands.

Suddenly they were both quiet, all they did was look at each other. Seifer couldn't help himself; he leaned toward Alayna and kissed her. When he pulled back he looked into her eyes; the lights from the flames danced on her face making her look incredibly beautiful.

"What does this mean?" She asked smiling again.

Seifer was prepared to answer, she would not catch him off-guard again. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

She looked down then looked back up at him. "Okay." 

She smiled and he kissed her again. 

"Seifer?"

"Yeah?" He looked dreamily at her.

"What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "Oh damn."

"What?" 

"Fifteen minutes till curfew. It'll take us twenty to get back. Damn, we shouldn't have come in a weekday."

Alayna stood up. "Let me drive and we'll make it in ten."

*************************************************

"I am never letting you drive again." Were the first words out of Seifer's mouth when they exited the car. 

Alayna smiled at him and took his hand. "We better get to our dorms, only two minutes till curfew."

They walked happily hand in hand, Seifer's smile disappeared when he saw Squall walking down the hall toward them.

"You're cutting it close Seifer. It's past curfew." He said dryly.

"Two minutes." Seifer replied.

"I don't care if you want to get into trouble," Squall glanced at Alayna, then turned back to Seifer. "but I would appreciate it if you didn't try to get other people involved." He proceeded to walk down the hall without giving them a second glance.

"That was _not_ nice." Alayna said.

"Yeah, well, I'm used to it." Seifer said, "I'm not his favorite person, and he's not mine."

They continued to walk until they reached Alayna's door. "Well..." She said. "This is it. Good night." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss Seifer.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said.

Alayna smiled at him then ran her card key through the slot by the door. "Bye." She stepped inside and closed the door.

Seifer continued down to his dorm, finally, he thought; something to look forward to in the morning.


	10. The Demon Returns

**Disclaimer: **Squaresoft owns FF8 and its characters. All I own is my made up characters.

(Through the Eyes of the Enemy)

(The Demon Returns)

"Send him in." Garret Stone slammed down the receiver and clamped a hand to his forehead. A few seconds later there was a knock on his office door. "Enter."

Marcus Emerson entered the office closing the door behind him; he wore a serious expression, Stone noticed a bandage covering his left cheek.

"I hope you have a good explanation." Stone said menacingly.

"Sir—"

"It was a simple mission Marcus, all you had to was blow up the damn power plant and set a few monsters lose; yet somehow you managed to screw it up."

He made it sound so simple, Marcus thought, he wished that once in a while Stone would put his fat ass on the line in the battle field. All he ever did was order them around from his big fancy office.

"I don't know how you came to be my _right hand man." Stone continued. "But for the moment I just want an explanation."_

If he'd let him talk Marcus would love to explain. "Sir, SeeD showed up, we barely escaped without being caught."

"SeeD." Stone pounded his fist on his desk. "I had _one chance to get rid of them!" He held up his right index finger. "__One damn chance and __you..." He pointed angrily at Marcus. "__You blew it for me!"_

"Sir! Will you let me explain?" Marcus was quickly losing his temper. "I found the Orden girl! I know where she is!"

Stone stared incredulously at him. "You found her? You actually did something right?"

Marcus ignored the question, he knew it was better to do so. "She's a SeeD from Balam Garden."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

"Then there is still a chance to defeat SeeD." 

"What should I do?" Marcus asked.

Stone thought for a moment. "...Let her stay in Balam Garden. We still have two weeks left. When the time comes...Well just leave her there, I'll tell you what to do later." He stood up. "You are dismissed. I will ignore your recent mistakes _only because you found her."_

"Thank you Sir." Marcus knew when to stay quiet; he stood up and left the office.

"There is still a chance." Stone smiled.

*********************************************

Zell sat in the back of the cafeteria playing a game of cards with Nida. Shiva was the only card that Zell needed to complete his collection; something that Nida had. If he lost though, he would have to give up his Ifrit; the card Nida needed to complete _his collection. After two draws it had finally come to this:_

"Damn it! Not my Ifrit card!" Zell pounded his fist on the table.

"Finally, my collection is complete." Nida laughed wickedly taking Zell's Ifrit card. "I told you not to underestimate me." He smirked.

"Geek. I'll get my Ifrit back, just you wait, and I'll get your Shiva too."

"Whatever you say Zell." Nida put his cards in their protective case then stood up and headed toward the exit.

"Screw you." Zell mumbled under his breath then headed to the table that was occupied by Solina and Alayna.

******************************************

Seifer entered the cafeteria and spotted Alayna at one of the tables. She was sitting with Zell's girlfriend, the library girl, Serena or whatever her name was. He decided to join them; he would ask Alayna if she wanted to go to Balam or something of the sort. He wanted to do something fun with her since they had not had time to go anywhere in the two weeks they had been going out.

Zell approached the table.

Seifer approached the table.

When they were both about two feet away from it, they each realized that the other was about to sit at the table. They both started to turn around, but were both stopped by:

"Sit!" Their girlfriends said in unison.

They both sat by their girls, as far away from each other as possible.

"Why don't you guys try to get along?" Alayna asked. Zell and Seifer glared at each other but didn't answer.

"Would it hurt you to try?" Solina said.

"Yes!" Seifer and Zell agreed then glared at each other again; hating the fact that they had agreed on something.

"I have an idea!" Alayna said. "There's this movie playing today that I've been wanting to see, why don't the four of us go see it together?"

"No." Seifer said simply.

"Not only _no," Zell said in a surprisingly calm voice; "but __hell no."_

"For once I agree with Chicken Wuss." Seifer said. 

"Watch it Almasy!" Zell looked menacingly at him.

"Come on guys, can you please act a little—" Alayna stopped at mid sentence and put a hand on her forehead.

"What's wrong?" Seifer asked concerned.

"I-it's nothing." Alayna removed her hand from her forehead and attempted to smile. "I just suddenly got this sharp pain in my head, but I think it's—Oh!" Both hands went to her head this time. "Oh God." She said quietly while holding her head.

"Are you OK?" Seifer touched her shoulder. Zell and Solina looked on with worried expressions on their faces.

"I-please take me to—" She gasped and held her head tighter. "Ah. Take me to the doctor."

Seifer and Zell stood up. "What's wrong?" Seifer asked her again.

"Oh God." Tears started to run down Alayna's face. "My head hurts." She felt intense pain, unlike anything she had experienced before; it was so strong that it was causing her vision to blur.

Seifer helped her up; she attempted to walk but this nearly caused her to collapse. Seifer picked her up and carried her out of the cafeteria closely followed by Zell and Solina.

*****************************************

"This is certainly strange." Dr. Kadowaki was looking at the films from Alayna's CAT Scan.

"What?" Zell inquired.

"It looks like she has a little piece of metal implanted in the back of her head. Do you know anything about her medical history?" She turned to Zell.

"No." Zell shook his head. "But Seifer might."

"Will you please get him?"

********************************************

Zell rushed to the infirmary room where Alayna had been for the past hour. Her pain seemed to have lessened a bit after Dr. Kadowaki had given her the pain medication and she was now asleep. Zell entered the small patient room; he saw Seifer sitting by Alayna's bed, his back turned to Zell. He was holding her right hand. He was oblivious to Zell standing at the door.

"I promise I'll make sure that you get better." Seifer gently caressed her face. "I don't care if I have to take you to the other side of the world to see a different doctor, but I swear if Dr. Kadowaki can't help you, I'll find someone who can." He gently kissed her forehead.

This was the last thing that Zell had expected to see; he had never witnessed Seifer say not even one kind word to anyone. This was a side of Seifer that he didn't think existed. He cleared his throat. "Yo, Seifer."

Seifer turned. "What?"

"The doctor wants to talk to you."

"I'll be right there." He stood up and touched her face again before making his way to the door.

***************************************

For the first time in three thousand years Averan opened her eyes. Could they be called _her eyes? She wondered, they were now. She was glad that the pain was finally gone; she had experienced it mere minutes, but that was enough. She sat up and took in her surroundings; things had changed in the last three thousand years. _

She stood up and walked away from the small bed. The first thing she wanted to find was a mirror. She knew that she was an eighteen-year-old girl named Alayna, a SeeD living in Balam Garden; but she didn't have a clear picture of what she looked like. There was a mirror on the wall adjacent to the bed; she stepped in front of it and smiled at the reflection.

Alayna looked exactly like her, save for the fact that she was younger and had straight hair rather than wavy. She noticed that she was dressed in a hospital gown; she saw her clothes thrown over a stool on the side of the bed. A pair of faded blue jeans and a white sleeveless top; she proceeded to put them on. There was something in her back pocket of the jeans; she pulled it out. "Card key." She said studying it. It was nice to have full access to Alayna's knowledge and memories; she would have never figured out what to do with that small piece of strange material. She put it back in her pocket and proceeded to walk out of the infirmary; she really needed to find different clothes.

************************************************

Averan walked slowly toward Alayna's dorm, her dorm now; she was amazed at how different everything was; the structure of the building she was in was simply breathtaking. 

She was almost at her dorm room door, number 86A. She saw someone walking down the hall a young man; she saw his face as he came closer. "Squall." Her lips curved into a smile.

"Are you feeling better Alayna?" Squall stopped in front of her. "I heard you were in the infirmary."

Averan took out the card key and slid it through the slot by her door. "Yes Commander, thank you."  
  


"I'm glad." He turned to leave.

"Wait."

"Yes?" He turned back to her.

"Can you help me with something in my room?" Averan smiled sweetly at him.

"With what?"

"I need to lift something." She lied.

"All right." He followed Averan into the room.

She closed the door and moved toward the back. "You know..." She stopped next to the bed. "...I'm still not feeling _too well."_

"Then why would you be trying to lift things?" Squall hadn't moved from his spot by the door.

"I didn't know I felt this bad." He still wasn't moving. "I'm feeling...lightheaded." 

"Do you want me to call the doctor?"

"No."

"Should I take you to the infirmary then?" He was starting to feel uneasy.

"I should be okay...don't worry." 

There was a moment of awkward silence. "...Are you sure?" She nodded. "Should I leave?"

She put her hand on her forehead. "I-I think I'm going to fall."

She started to wobble to the side; Squall rushed toward her and helped her sit on the bed. "Are you okay?" He asked sitting by her. Averan looked at him and smiled, he didn't know quite what to make of it. "...Do you need me to—" She suddenly kissed him taking him completely by surprise. Squall quickly pulled away and stood up. "What the hell?!"

"What?" Averan looked innocently at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He began to back away.

"I just wanted to have a little fun. I haven't in a while, a very long while." She stood up and started to walk toward him.

"Well you can't!" He continued to back away.

"Give me one good reason why not." Averan smiled.

"I'm engaged to Rinoa."

Averan stopped. "Fine. Give me _two good reasons."_

"You're Seifer's girlfriend." Squall was now at the door.

"They don't have to know." 

"Apparently I was wrong about you." He opened the door.

"What's the matter? Am I not attractive?" She asked incredulously.

Squall turned to face her. "...That's not it."

"Then?"

Squall decided not to answer. He stepped outside and closed the door.

Averan stood in the middle of the room baffled; she had been rejected. No man had ever rejected _her, and if he did find her attractive then __why? She decided at that moment that she didn't like Squall._


	11. Will Power

**Disclaimer:** FF8 and its characters belong to Squaresoft. All the characters that were not in the game belong to me.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(Will Power)

Alayna was not aware of her surroundings, she knew that Seifer was with her but she didn't know exactly where she was or who else was in the room. All she knew was pain unlike anything she had felt before. Pain that made her wish she were dead rather than have to withstand it even a second longer. Suddenly there was a strange sensation throughout her entire body, she felt as if her insides were being pushed, no, she felt as if her entire body was being compressed. 

A few seconds after her pain disappeared, she felt her eyes open, but couldn't remember opening them. She found herself looking around then standing up; she began to panic, as she had not meant to do any of those things. She wanted to scream, but found that her mouth wouldn't open. She began to hear a voice; she felt like she was locked in a room equipped with speakers in every wall. The voice sounded much like her own, but she knew it wasn't hers, she listened and soon realized that she was listening to someone's thoughts; but who? How?

After listening to the thoughts for a few minutes she realized what was happening. Averan, her ancestor was using her body as her own, for how long? Alayna wondered, _for as long as I want. She heard Averan respond, apparently she could hear Alayna's thoughts. She walked through the Garden halls on her way to Alayna's dorm, __my dorm now, she heard Averan think. _

Once she arrived at her door she saw someone walking in her direction. Squall! Alayna thought, maybe he could help her; _I'm afraid he's going to help me, Averan smiled. She watched Averan lure him into her room then throw herself at him. Alayna wanted desperately to take control of her body again; to tell Squall that she wasn't responsible for her actions. _

What would he think of her now? And Rinoa, she would probably hater her after Squall told her. She suddenly panicked, what about Seifer? What would he do when he found out? She would lose him. She saw Squall leave the room. "Apparently I was wrong about you." His words rang all around her. Her reputation would be ruined once again, and there was nothing she could do about it.

****************************************

"It's right here." Dr. Kadowaki pointed at a spot in the CT film. "Has she ever mentioned anything about it?" She turned to Seifer.

Seifer shook his head. "Never. Do you think that's what's causing the pain?"

"I don't know what else could be doing it, she seems perfectly healthy. The CT shows no abnormalities...but there are other tests that I want to do before I come to a conclusion." She looked at the film again. "It's just below her scalp, so it won't be difficult to remove."

"I'm sorry I wasn't any help." Seifer said.

"Don't worry about it, I promise we'll figure it out." Kadowaki reassured him. "Now," She stood up from her chair and faced Seifer, Zell and Solina who were standing behind her, "if you three will excuse me, I want to do another test on her."

The three of them stepped out of the room followed by the doctor. Zell and Solina stayed in the office while Kadowaki and Seifer stepped into the patient room. They both stopped at the entrance and stared wide-eyed at the empty bed.

*****************************************

Zell had said he would check the second floor for Alayna while Solina checked the library and the quad. Seifer was on his way to her dorm; he could not stop worrying about her, he had no idea as to why she would have left the infirmary without letting anyone know. He didn't think that was like her.

Seifer spotted Squall walking out of the cafeteria. Though he hated to have any sort of interaction with him this was and urgent matter; he quickened his step and caught up to him. "Squall."

Squall stopped and turned to face him. To Seifer's surprise he wasn't wearing the usual scowl that he always had when he saw him, he had a different expression; he looked...nervous? No, it couldn't be. "What?"

"Have you seen Alayna lately? I can't fi—"

"Why would I see her? I have better things to do!" Squall said a little too quickly then proceeded to hastily walk away in the direction opposite to where Seifer was going.

"You could have just said no." Seifer mumbled before heading for the dorms once more.

Seifer arrived at 86A, he knocked on the door: no answer. He turned the knob and found that it was unlocked. He stepped inside and closed the door, he could hear the shower running in the bathroom. He stepped up to the bathroom door and knocked. 

"What?!" Came Alayna's irritated voice.

"It's Seifer, can I come in?"

"Sure." Her tone suddenly changed.

He was suddenly surrounded by steam as he stepped into the bathroom; he heard the water stop. "Are you feeling better?" He asked.

"Obviously." She poked her head out of the curtain. "Seifer!" She exclaimed.

"What?" 

"You're even better looking in person than in my head."

That was probably the strangest thing he had ever heard her say. "...Why did you leave the infirmary?" He decided to ignore her comment.

"Because I did not feel like being there." She answered simply. "I'm coming out."

"Okay. I'll wait in the room." He stepped out and closed the door. 

Seifer found her behavior extremely odd; he sat on the edge of her bed. Had her strange behavior been brought on by that thing that was implanted in her head? He heard the bathroom open and automatically turned toward it. Alayna stepped out with only a short towel wrapped around herself. Hyne she looked hot, Seifer thought. No! He mustn't think about that right now, he was there to help her. "A-Alayna, we need to go back to the infirmary."

"But I don't want to."

"The doctor found something that we need to take care of."

She sat by him and began to trace his jaw line with her finger. "Please don't make me."

He took hold of her hand and gently moved it away. "You have to go."

She leaned forward and kissed him then smiled when she pulled away. "Wouldn't you rather stay here with me?"

Would he ever. He looked at her, he couldn't remember ever laying eyes on a more gorgeous woman. He noticed little water droplets falling from her hair and onto her; _bare shoulders. He noticed how silky and flawless her skin was, how perfect her features and her body were. Averan kissed him again; he eagerly returned the kiss. _

There was a very quiet voice in the back of his head shouting '_no', it soon it became louder and louder. He remembered that he was supposed to be taking her to the infirmary. That she wasn't feeling well and that the reason she was behaving so strangely was probably that. "We better not." He said putting his hands on her shoulders and holding her back at arm's length._

"Why not?" Averan asked rather irritated.

Seifer sighed. "Believe me, if this was any other time I would gladly accept." He couldn't believe that those words were coming from him; he never imagined that he would be turning his gorgeous girlfriend down. "...I'm sorry." He said awkwardly.

"You're turning me down?" Averan asked incredulously, she couldn't believe the same thing had happened to her twice in the same day.

"You need to go back to the infirmary." She turned her face away, Seifer gently took hold of her chin and turned her toward him. "It's for your own good."

She turned her right palm toward him. "Sleep." She said. Seifer who didn't have his junctions ready easily succumbed to the spell. 

Averan stood up and made her way to Alayna's closet. She searched through the clothing and finally choose a very short miniskirt. After looking a short while longer she found a red tube-top. Alayna never wore either of those items, they had been gifts from friends that she'd once had at Galbadia Garden.

*

It's not enough to throw herself at every man, now she's going to make me look like a prostitute, Alayna thought helplessly. What would Seifer think about her now? Would he think that all the rumors in Galbadia Garden were true? Would he regret bringing her to Balam? Would he break up with her? Maybe he would figure out that she wasn't herself and then...no, how could that possibly happen. He was not going to find out. There was no way to communicate with anyone all she could do was watch, watch through her own eyes as her life was ruined.

*

Averan glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She was not entirely happy with the outfit, but it would have to do until she found something new. She slipped on some platform sandals, grabbed Alayna's purse and proceeded to walk out the door.

*****************************************

The first thing Averan wanted to do was leave Balam Garden, she stepped into the parking lot and made her way to the small checkout office. She stepped inside, the man sitting behind the desk looked her up and down before speaking.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"I need a vehicle."

"Okay, just fill out this form and—"

"Just give me the keys." Averan interrupted.

"I can't do that, you need to fill out the form. Even the Commander and the Headmaster have to do that." The clerk explained.

"Fine I'll get them myself." 

"You can't as long as I have the key."

Averan began to walk around the desk toward the locked glass cabinet containing the keys, which was behind the clerk. He stood up in an attempt to stop her, but she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him to the floor onto the other side of the desk. She then stepped up to the glass cabinet and punched it with her right hand. The glass shattered allowing her access to the keys. She choose C12 then headed toward the exit. "I don't need a key." She told the fallen clerk before leaving.

She found vehicle C12, a blue van, not exactly what she wanted, but it would have to do for the moment. Again Averan was thankful for full access to Alayna's brain, this modern world was so complicated. She sat in the driver's seat and started the engine; driving was going to be a lot of fun.

*******************************************

Seifer opened his eyes; he sat up immediately, he looked around the room; Alayna was nowhere in sight. He knew he that he had only been asleep for a few minutes, a Sleep spell didn't last very long, so he didn't think that she had gone far. He rushed to the door and hastily pulled open, he was startled when he saw Zell standing right in front of him about to knock.

"We've got a problem." Zell said, he wore a serious expression.

"Is she all right?" Seifer felt his heart rate increase.

"Um...physically, yeah." Zell scratched the back of his neck.

"What do you mean?" Seifer was beginning to grow inpatient.

"She's gone, stole one of the cars and beat up the clerk in the checkout office."

Seifer didn't know what to say, what Zell had just told him didn't make any sense. Why would Alayna do something like that? And the way she had behaved with him earlier was just...strange. "Oh man, I have to find her, there is definitely something wrong with her." He proceeded to close Alayna's door and walk down the hall.

"Wait up!" Zell started after Seifer. "I'm going with you."

****************************************

Averan arrived at Balam a short while after leaving the Garden. She stopped the van in front of the train station, grabbed Alayna's purse and started looking through it. "Picture of Seifer...insolent bastard...video store card," Averan said the name of each item as she saw it. "SeeD ID card, why would people need a piece of strange material to prove who they are?" Averan shook her head. "...Credit card..." A smile crept across her lips.

She stepped off the vehicle and made her way to the ticket booth. "Where to?" The man on the other side of the glass asked.

"Where do all the young people go for fun?" Averan asked, she really had nowhere to go, so she might as well go somewhere fun.

"There isn't much in Balam." The man said.

"What about outside Balam?"

The man thought for a moment. "There is a very popular club in Deling City where all the kids your age like to hang out."

"One ticket to Deling City." Averan said.

The man punched a few keys on his computer. "The train leaves in thirty minutes."

"Perfect."

"Three thousand gil." The man pulled a ticket out of the printer. 

"Do you take credit?"

"Sure." Averan handed him the card, he took it and entered the number in the computer. "Do you need a receipt?" He asked as he handed her the ticket.

"No." She took the card and the ticket and walked toward where the train was stationed.

"Have a nice trip Miss Orden." The man called after her.

Deling City; it would be nice to visit new places. She would have fun tonight, but tomorrow...tomorrow she would once again begin her quest to rule the world.

************************************

"You prez ze button here." Dr. Odine pointed a bony finger at a red button on a small remote control.

"That's all it takes?" Garret Stone asked as he took the control form Dr. Odine.

"Zis button vill send a signal to ze chip that I inserted in the ze girl's head. Zat vill send a signal to her brain causing her terrible pain." Odine explained.

"Enough to render her helpless?" Stone inquired.

"Enough to make her beg for mercy at your feet." Odine smiled. "Now..." The tiny man made his way to the chair in front of Stone's ebony desk. "About my pay..."

Stone walked to his desk, put the remote control in the inside pocket of his navy-blue jacket then proceeded to sit on his black leather chair. He opened the top drawer on his right and pulled out a small piece of paper. "Your services are always appreciated Doctor." He handed Odine the paper, he took it; his eyes seemed to light at the sight of it. 

"Zis vill be enough to begin my new research!" He said excitedly.

"You know that I have always supported your research, and I will continue to do so as long as you continue to support _my cause." Stone picked up his phone. "The doctor will be leaving now."_

"You know I always support you Mr. Stone." Odine stood up. "But you know, my clever device vill be more helpful once you have ze girl." There was a knock on the door. 

"My right-hand man is retrieving her as we speak." He pressed a button on his phone and the door slid open. "Escort the doctor to his vehicle." He ordered the man standing at the other side of the door.

"It vas a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Stone." Odine made his way to the door.

"Have a safe journey Doctor." 

The door slid closed once Odine had stepped into the hallway. Stone retrieved the remote control from his pocket, he looked at it and smiled. "The only way to contain a demon." He once more opened the top drawer on his right, he took out an old leather-bound book. He smiled again, he had been lucky to have come across it at the Sorceress Memorial. It had been one of Adel's possessions, after she was locked away in space the book had been confined to the museum section of the Memorial. It had been difficult to obtain it, but he was Garret Stone; he had his ways.

As soon as Marcus returned with Averan, he would be able to carryout all his plans. Averan: a demon, a deadly weapon, one which he possessed; his one and only chance to rid the world of SeeD.    

***************************************

If there are more errors than usual in this chapter it's because I'm struggling to stay awake as I edit it. I got called in to work on Sunday so I'm tired...so very tired...but whatever, I'm rambling. Thanks for reading and please review even if you don't like, constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks! 


	12. Spoiled Fun

****

Disclaimer: FF8 and its characters belong to Squaresoft, all the characters that were not in the game belong to me.

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

(Spoiled Fun)

After watching Balam Garden for what seemed to be hours, Marcus finally saw Alayna leave. He watched her drive off in an old blue van. After making sure that she didn't see him he followed in his vehicle at a distance. 

About halfway to Balam Marcus was startled by the ringing of his cell phone. He picked it up from the passenger seat, pressed the talk button and answered. "Emerson here."

"Have you found her Marcus?" Marcus recognized Stone's voice.

"Yes Sir, I'm following her as we speak."

"Following her? I want you to do more than just follow her!"

"I understand sir, but she just now left Balam Garden—"

"I don't want your excuses, I just want you to bring here! Understood?!"

Marcus heard the phone being slammed on Stone's side, he pressed the off button on his phone then proceeded to drop in onto the passenger seat. A bump on the road caused the phone to fall off the seat, Marcus reached over and grabbed for it, diverting his attention from the road. He looked up again in time to see a chocobo crossing, he swerved to avoid the bird; this caused him drive off the road and run over several bushes and broken branches. He hastily stepped on the break and stopped the car inches before hitting a tree head-on. After making sure that he wasn't hurt he then proceeded to step out of the car to check the damage.

"Damn it!" He yelled upon noticing the right-front tire, it was completely flat. Changing the tire would waste valuable time, but there was nothing he could do now.

After finally changing the tire Marcus climbed into his vehicle. He was forced to let a car pass by before pulling onto the road. 

The flat tire had truly ruined his day; it would take ages to find her now, if he ever found her. Stone didn't pay him enough to do all the things he did, the job had seemed Heaven sent at first, easy money, but now...well it didn't matter.

He noticed how very fast the car in front of him was going; he couldn't imagine anyone being more pressed for time than he. The car slowed down and then finally stopped as it reached the Balam entrance; Marcus did the same. He saw two blond young men exiting the vehicle, he recognized the taller one as the SeeD who had rescued the girls at the mansion near Dollett.

Were they looking for her? He wondered as he saw them rush toward the train station, why else would they be going in the same direction. He followed after them, since neither one had ever seen Marcus before they paid no mind to the man walking behind them.

They both stepped up to the ticket booth. The taller one extracted a card from his wallet and showed it to the clerk. "We're SeeDs." He informed the man. "We're looking for this girl." He showed him a picture.

The man shook his head. "Sorry, my shift just started about three minutes ago. I haven't seen her." 

"What if I give you her name?" The tall blond asked.

"I don't know, I suppose I could check."

"Her name is Alayna Orden." Bingo! Marcus smiled.

The clerk punched a few keys on his computer. "Here we go, one way ticket to Deling City."

"Is the train still here?" The shorter blond asked anxiously.

"That train left about forty-five minutes ago, but a train departs for Deling at the end of every hour, so our next one will leave in about fifteen minutes."

"Two tickets to Deling then." The tall blond said. After paying and receiving their tickets the two young men made their way toward the train.

Marcus stepped up to the ticket booth. "One ticket to Deling City please." 

"One ticket to Deling coming up." The man said.

Marcus couldn't help but smile; perhaps it wouldn't be so difficult to find her after all. 

*******************************************

It was nearing 11:30 p.m. in Deling City. Being the weekend a considerable amount of people were still roaming the outside of nightclubs and taverns. One of the 'hottest' spots in Deling was a new club called 'Mirage'. A large amount of young people lined up at the side hoping for the bouncer's blessing to step into what many called _Heaven_.

They momentarily diverged their attention from the front of the line when they saw a sleek black sports car pull up to the curb. Everyone watched as a dark-haired woman in her late teens emerged. She was about five feet four inches tall, with a near perfect built and tan skin. She wore tight, black leather pants, an extremely low cut black, halter-top and spike-heeled boots. Her hair was a little above shoulder length and had a sort of 'wet-look' to it. Her dark purple nails perfectly matched the color of her lipstick and her eyes were heavily lined with black.

"Wow, that's a little over the top." A young brunette near the back of the line commented.

"No kidding," The redhead behind her agreed. "New arrival from Slutsville I'd say." Both girls laughed.

"You can't park here miss." One of the bouncers approached leather clad young woman.

"You park it for me then." She casually handed him the keys then proceeded to walk toward the entrance. 

She could hear whispers as she walked by, but she didn't care. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" The bouncer at the door took a step toward her.

"I'm trying to go inside." The young woman said as she passed the bouncer.

"Listen little girl," He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the entrance. "No one gets in unless _I_ let them in." 

She stared daggers into him. "Don't touch me." She said through clenched teeth.

"Then step back." He gave her an equally cold glare.

"Let me go. You have _no_ idea who you're dealing with."

"A little snot-nosed brat used to getting what she wants?" He let go of her arm. "Not on _my_ shift, Princess." 

In one swift movement the small girl grabbed the bouncer by the neck, lifted him as high as her stature allowed then slammed him on the concrete. A wave of silence made its way through the onlookers; they all instinctively took a step back as the woman turned to them. "Would you care to stop me as well?" She smiled at the other bouncer who still stood holding the keys to her car.

He truly had no intention to stand in her way, though he did want to know one thing: "...Are you a sorceress?" The man asked.

She looked at him and smiled. "You wish." She spun on her heel and made her way toward the entrance.

**********************************

The music inside Mirage was deafening. It was nearly impossible to carry on a conversation, nevertheless Kristoff, a young black man standing near the bar attempted to do so. He was talking to who he thought was the most beautiful girl in the club, a brown-eyed blond wearing a tube top and a miniskirt. Any of the young women in the club would have agreed that Kristoff was one of the best looking men there and would have been overjoyed if he had asked them to dance or offered to buy them a drink. The young blond woman however, attempted to ignore him. She was the type of person to hope that something or someone better would come along, thus many times she had _missed the train_ so to speak. This was no exception.

Kristoff glanced toward the entrance just as a young woman clad in black leather entered the club. Without giving a second glance to the blond he walked up to the newcomer. "Hi," He gave her his most charming smile. "Can I buy you a drink?" he offered.

The young woman smiled. "You don't waste any time, do you?"

He glanced back at the blond who was standing near the bar wearing a bewildered expression. "Not usually." He turned back to her.

"I accept..." She looked at him for a short moment. "...Your name?" She prompted.

"...Kristoff, forgive me," He apologized. "I got lost in your eyes for a moment." He said leaning closer so she could hear him.

She was tempted to laugh and walk away. "Averan." She extended her hand, which he shook gently. "You are very lucky to be so good-looking."

"...Why?" He asked, a confused expression momentarily crossing his features.

"That was a lame pick-up line." She simply stated walking toward the bar.

*********************************** 

After showing the bouncer their SeeD ID Seifer and Zell were let into the club without incident. It had taken them a while to catch up with Alayna, after asking practically every employee at the train station someone had finally told them that she had asked where she could rent a car. After making their way to the car rental storeSeifer and Zell had discovered that Alayna had rented the most expensive car (she needed it for a mission as per the clerk) and charged it to Balam Garden. The clerk informed them that she had asked where Mirage was located, immediately the two SeeDs made their way to the nightclub.

"I cannot believe this is happening." Seifer shook his head. "She's acting so damn weird." He was beginning to worry about Alayna's sanity.

"What?" Zell turned to Seifer. "I can't hear you?" Seifer waved his hand dismissively. "I can't believe this is happening," Zell practically yelled. "She's acting so damn weird."

Seifer rolled his eyes and chose to ignore his comment. "She'll probably be expelled from Garden when we get her back." Seifer said, his voice louder this time. "Stealing cars, beating up Garden employees, charging Garden with the most expensive rental car...I don't know what she'll be doing next, but after all this I doubt it'll surprise me."

Zell's eyes suddenly went wide. "I wouldn't bet on it." He said pointing behind Seifer.

***********************************

*

Alayna wished she could close her eyes, but knew that was impossible, for they were not _her_ eyes anymore. She watched in disgust as Averan used her, she had _danced_ with a stranger in a manner that Alayna would be uncomfortable dancing with her own boyfriend. She hated everything about her demonic ancestor and was afraid of what she would make her do next. She was such a slut, Alayna thought, and she was using _her_ who was practically family, paying no mind to what she might feel or what people might think about her. _"Shut up kid,"_ Averan's voice rang all around her, _"You are starting to annoy me."_ At least there was something good coming out of the situation, it wasn't much but at least she could annoy her. 

She could feel everything that Averan felt, unfortunately she could hear everything too. Averan laughed as Kristoff whispered in her ear, dear Hyne, Alayna prayed, please save me from what she might do. Alayna was suddenly in the dance floor again, _dancing_ (if one could call it that) with Kristoff once more. She was immediately filled with panic as Averan turned her head to the left. Oh no, Alayna thought, they saw us!

*

**********************************

Marcus made his way inside the club, it was amazing what gil could do, after making a generous offer to the bouncer he had eagerly agreed to let Marcus in. He looked around and spotted the two blond SeeDs who were walking straight toward Averan. "Damn." He muttered and quickly proceeded to make his way through the crowd, he could not let them get to her first...but they did. 

*********************************** 

"Alayna!" Seifer attempted to yell over the noise. 

Though Averan didn't hear him she did see him. "Oh no." She sighed and stopped dancing. "Talk about spoiling my fun." 

"What?" Kristoff asked.

"That guy thinks he's still my boyfriend." She pointed to Seifer.

"Don't worry." Kristoff stepped in front of her. "I'll take care of him."

Averan felt slightly angry, as if she couldn't take care of herself, she thought bitterly. 

"Just what do you think you're doing in a place like this?" Seifer asked trying to step around Kristoff. 

"She can go anywhere she wants." Kristoff blocked Seifer's way. 

"You stay out of it." Zell warned taking a step toward him.

"I can handle it Zell." Seifer turned toward him. "I don't need you to come to the rescue."

"Man Seifer, even in a situation like this you still act like an ass." Zell retorted.

"Not now Zell." Seifer warned.

"Could you two clowns please take your discussion outside and leave us alone?" Kristoff took a step closer toward Seifer. 

Averan rolled her eyes, perhaps she should kill the three and look for a different dance partner, even Kristoff was beginning to annoy her.

She turned her head back when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She found herself face to face with an attractive green-eyed man who looked to be in his mid twenties. "Come with me." He said. 

She turned her head in an attempt to ignore him, she didn't want him to think that she'd been _hypnotized_ by his opening line. The stranger took her hand, how dare he touch her without her permission! She was thinking about breaking his arm when he said, "Come with me _Averan_." She stared at him for a short moment, how could anyone possibly know who she was; she needed to know. Averan let him lead her toward the back of the club where they disappeared through the emergency exit; this of course set off the alarm, which in turn sent the multitude into chaos. 

"See what you did Seifer?!" Zell accused shouting louder than necessary, for the music had now stopped. 

Seifer didn't bother answering he merely looked frantically around trying to locate Alayna in the confused crowd. As far as he was concerned it had all been Zell's fault, but he didn't want to comment on it.

"This is both your faults!" Seifer turned at the sound of Kristoff's voice. "And she looked like a sure thing too." Kristoff said sounding quite disappointed.

Zell quickly turned around ready to bash in the face of the man who had said such an awful thing about the girl he considered to be his little sister. Before he had completely turned around her heard _THWACK_, he looked down and realized that Siefer had beat him to the punch, literally, Kristoff lay flat on the floor his right hand pressed to his left eye.

"Let's check the back." Seifer said without giving the fallen man a second glance. He left for the emergency exit Zell following behind him. 

***************************************

A/N: I know it's been a while, but real life kept getting in the way. Hopefully next time I won't take so long posting the next chapter...hopefully. Anyway, thanks for reading, please don't forget to review and as always _constructive_ criticism is very, very welcome. Thank you.


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